


A Dream Come True (ON HIATUS)

by AyePatch



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Everything else is minor background stuff, F/F, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Loosely implied trans Brigitte, MekaMechanic, MekaMechanic is the only major ship here though, Mutual Pining, Personally I'm more of a Pharah/Mercy gal than I am Mercy/Genji, Work In Progress, but I'm trying to keep this on the canon-compliant side of things, mekanic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:13:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 20
Words: 60,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21536524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AyePatch/pseuds/AyePatch
Summary: When Brigitte Lindholm heard that Overwatch was getting an ambassador from MEKA, she could never have expected that it would be her idol and celebrity crush, "D.Va." Nor could she have known that things would only go up from there.
Relationships: Brigitte Lindholm/Hana "D.Va" Song, Emily/Lena "Tracer" Oxton, Implied Angela "Mercy" Ziegler/Genji Shimada
Comments: 270
Kudos: 404





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is just the start of what will become a long-running fanfiction that will be updated as I continue to work on it. I don't really have an ending planned out, so it'll keep going until I don't have anything left worth adding. I know there's not much to it right now, but I wanted to get what I have out there. I already have the next parts planned out, so there'll be an update soon with The Good Stuff, don't worry. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the very, veeery beginning of your ride!

“I’ve gathered you here today, to make an announcement.” As Winston’s deep voice reverberated through the Watchpoint briefing room, Brigitte Lindholm slouched in her chair. She’d grown fond of the big guy in the month or so since they had met in Paris, but he was _terrible_ with speeches.

“As I’m sure you all know, we’re a little short on resources right now. After all, we aren’t exactly operating legally. However, I am thrilled to announce that we have secured…” Winston’s voice seemed to get further and further away as Brigitte became lost in thought. D.Va was supposed to be streaming right now, and between that and Winston’s boring announcement, she knew where she’d rather be. 

It was pathetic, really, her crush on the Korean superstar. She was a world-renowned idol, as handy with a gun as she was with a video game controller. She was out there defending her country, fearing neither death nor destruction, fighting glorious battles that Brigitte could only _dream_ about being a part of. Whereas Brigitte was, well, not a _nobody_ , but still. A young Swedish engineer living in the shadow of two former Overwatch legends didn't stand a chance.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a massive elbow poking her shoulder.

"You might want to pay attention, Brigitte," Reinhardt said with a softness that only his goddaughter ever heard. "It seems we're getting a new recruit. From MEKA. Very hush-hush."

Brigitte snapped to attention. _Maybe they'll know D.Va!_ She thought, before mentally slapping herself. _Get it together, idiot._

"... This deal is, obviously, very dependent on the public reaction to the Overwatch recall, which thus far has been mostly positive," Winston continued. "MEKA wants to make an alliance early, and if this goes well, we may receive further support from them in the future. They have not informed us who they will be sending, but they have said they wish to make 'an impression.' Regardless of who arrives, it is extremely important that they be welcomed as family, and made to feel at home. I know you all have good hearts, so I have no doubt things will go smoothly. Lena, Angela, and I will form the welcoming party when our new teammate arrives early tomorrow afternoon. You will each have the chance to meet them one-on-one once they have settled in. With that, you are all dismissed, except for Lena and Angela. I need you two to stay here for some further briefing."

Brigitte made her way out of the briefing room as quickly as decency would allow, and once she was out the door she sprinted back to her room. She flung open the door, the sudden draft rustling the collection of posters on her wall, leapt into her chair, and pulled up D.Va's stream. She let out a heavy sigh.

**Stream Offline**

She had missed it. There wasn't even a listed time for her next stream, which usually meant that it would be a long time before she would be able to stream again. Brigitte slumped back in her chair. "I can't believe I missed it!" she groaned, throwing her head back and holding it in frustration. Upset, she made her way to her bed and curled up, looking at the empty bed across from her. The Watchpoint facility had been designed to house well over a dozen people in communal rooms, but for the sake of privacy Winston, Lena, Brigitte, and the others had converted many of the various storage and maintenance rooms into 2-person dorms. They had hoped more people would answer Overwatch's call, but the small group that was there now barely filled it to half capacity. Nobody had a roommate, and even with Lúcio's arrival there were several rooms that were left unclaimed. Most of them were scattered about at various points on the site--Winston, Lena, Angela, Reinhardt, Genji, Mei, and Echo had claimed the 7 rooms closest to the main building. Brigitte, though, had drawn the shortest straw for the room selection, and since she struggled to see any of her teammates as permanent roommate material, had chosen one of the two adjacent rooms near fuel storage. Lúcio had insisted on taking one of the more remote rooms--formerly a large storage closet near the hangar--so as not to bother anyone with his music.

Brigitte didn't mind having a room to herself, but there were days when she felt profoundly lonely, and today was one of them. It didn't help that there wasn't anybody her age at the facility who shared her interests. Lena was always a sweetheart, and she tried her best to listen whenever Brigitte was rambling on about mechanical engineering, but it was clear she only had a very basic grasp of what Brigitte was saying. Lúcio was pretty cool too, and he and Brigitte had already bonded over the design for his sonic amplifier, but he didn't have the same passion for big machines that Brigitte had. She snuggled up to the big stuffed kitten she kept on her bed--the only company she had on blue days like these.

After some time, Brigitte heard her phone beep. It was Lena.

[You got a moment, luv?]

[All the time in the world :sadcat:] Brigitte texted back.

[Well I have some news that might cheer you up a bit] [Properly I can't tell you any of this, but what's Winston gonna do?] [Anyways, I know who the new recruit is, and I think you'll like her.] [She's about your age, and from what I understand she does a lot of the work on her MEKA herself.]

Brigitte perked up a little bit. [Do you know her name?]

[That, I _will_ get in trouble for. But we're thinking of putting her in the room next to your's if you're okay with that?] [I know how lonely it can get up there.]

[I guess she'll probably be good company, right?]

[I'd say it's a safe bet ;) So it's a yes?]

[Yeah]

[Great!!]

Brigitte closed her phone. Something about Lena's confidence seemed strange, and Brigitte couldn't shake the feeling that she knew even more than she was letting on. She sighed. She wouldn't know if Lena's hunch would be right or not until tomorrow afternoon anyways.

After laying quietly in her bed for a few more minutes, Brigitte picked up her phone again and decided to do some research to see if she could figure out who MEKA might be sending. It took some digging, including running multiple incident reports through Google translate, but she was surprised to see that, beyond the five famous pilots like D.Va and D.Mon, there were at least a dozen other active pilots who seemed to have no public-facing image. Brigitte was eventually able to figure out the genders of four of these pilots--three female and one male, but there were still 8 other pilots who had no official mention of their gender, or whose genders didn't seem to be getting translated correctly. What's more, she couldn't piece together much about any of their personalities.

Brigitte sighed. Lena had confirmed that the pilot MEKA was sending was female, but that still meant that there were up to 11 different people who could be arriving tomorrow. 13 if she counted D.Va and D.Mon as possibilities. Suddenly a message popped up on her phone screen.

 **Low Battery**.

Brigitte checked the time. It was 1 am. "Fan! How did it get so late?" She groaned out loud. She got up and put her phone on its charger, her entire body feeling twice as heavy as usual as the exhaustion started to catch up to her. Not even bothering to change out of her day clothes, she let her hair down and flopped into bed, her head barely touching the pillow before she was out like a light.

* * *

_She was standing next to D.Va on the dock, watching the sun dip below the mountains across the strait._

_ "The sunset's so beautiful tonight," D.Va murmured. _

_ "Not as beautiful as you," Brigitte replied softly. _

_ D.Va chuckled. "You're such a flirt, aein," she said, still looking out over the water. _

_ Brigitte took a step back, nervously feeling the small box in her pocket. What she was about to do terrified her, but as she saw the sun filtering through D.Va's hair, forming a dazzling golden halo around her silhouette, she knew what she had to do. _

_ She got down on one knee. _

And then she was back in her room. _Of course it was a dream. It's always a dream._ But it had felt so real. Either way, it didn't matter. She was back in the real world. The lame, boring real world. _Don't be like that. You get to fight for freedom alongside some of the world's most legendary heroes! And you think that's boring?_ But compared to a life with _D.Va..._

Brigitte groaned and sat up. It would do her no good to mope about pining after her dumb, hopeless dreams. Besides, she had to get ready to meet the new recruit. She gathered up her nicest clothes, which were a light green polo and tan slacks, and headed to the shower. 

She washed herself very thoroughly, shampooing and rinsing her hair twice, and taking great care to scrub every last spot of grease from her face, arms, and hands, before stepping out, drying herself off, and pulling on her clothes. They were from her younger, scrawnier years, so their fit was quite snug, but a look in the mirror confirmed that she still looked reasonably presentable. As she walked down the hall back towards her room, she glanced out the window overlooking the courtyard to see Lena, Winston, and Angela escorting a person who must have been the new recruit, each helping to carry a few bags and suitcases. Brigitte tried to get a good look at the stranger, but she was too far away to see any sort of detail. Suddenly, Brigitte realized that they were heading away from Lúcio's room, which meant that hers would be next!

 _Fan! How late did I sleep??_ She rushed to her room and checked her phone. 2:00 pm. Her late night had come back to bite her. _They'll be here any moment! There's no WAY I'll be ready in time!_ She started to do up her hair, and then sighed. _If I'm gonna be late anyways, I might as well try to look as nice as I can._ She picked up her hair brush and began combing through it, carefully untangling any knots she came across. Then, she began to work on the tresses that would frame her face, carefully arranging them and then holding them in place with her favorite silver and yellow hair clips. Lastly, she pulled back the rest of her hair and tied it up into her usual high ponytail. 

Next, she dug out her makeup. Brigitte didn't use a lot of it, preferring just to stick with a simple wing and cat-eye, but as she started to lean into the mirror to get a better look she heard a knock at the door.

"Brigitte?" Lena's voice called from the other side. "Is it okay if we come in?"

"Not right now Lena!" Brigitte called back. "I, uhh, I lost track of time! I'm still getting ready!" She hated to admit it, but there wasn't really anything else she could have said.

"No worries luv! We'll be right next door, just come over when you're ready!"

"Okay!" Brigitte leaned back into the mirror and started to carefully apply her makeup. She had gotten pretty good at doing it quickly, but today she took a bit of extra time to make sure she got it _perfect_. At last, she leaned back and took a moment to double check everything in the mirror. Satisfied, she stood up, opened her door, and stepped out into the hall.

Angela and Winston seemed to have already left, but Lena had stuck around to help introduce Brigitte to the new recruit. "You look great, luv!" Lena whispered encouragingly, before guiding Brigitte into the doorway. "Brigitte, say hello to our newest recruit!"

Brigitte's jaw dropped. Sitting on the bed, looking down at her phone, was just about the _last_ person Brigitte expected to see. "D.VA??"


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, now things are starting to move! I've got a lot of great plans for this fic, and I can't wait to share them all with you! As always, feel free to leave some feedback, and enjoy!

Hana Song looked up from her phone to see quite possibly the most beautiful woman she had ever laid eyes on. Tall and broad-shouldered, she cut a striking figure against the cold colors of the hallway. Her long auburn hair fell down on either side of her soft face, and her gorgeous hazel eyes and lightly freckled skin seemed to glow in the warm light of the room. And then there were her _arms_... Hana was so busy trying not to swoon that she completely failed to process the utterly dumbfounded and starstruck look on the big girl's face.

Lena, however, had seen everything she needed to see to know that the two girls would get along just fine. "Brigitte," she said cheerily, "this is Hana Song. Hana, this is Brigitte Lindholm." And then, just in case the two girls needed a bit of help getting things started, she gently pushed Brigitte the rest of the way through the door, pointing at her and mouthing "She's a _huge_ fan" to Hana as clearly as she could, before blinking out the door and closing it behind her.

"Hej," Brigitte said timidly, giving a small wave with one hand as the other reached up to scratch the back of her neck. "I'm Brigitte--b-but you already knew that! N-not because you'd actually, like, _know_ me, of course! Just cuz, like, Lena already told you and all…" _Nice one, idiot._

Hana giggled. _Okay, she's adorable_. "Don't worry about it!" She said, closing her eyes in a bright smile. "It's a pretty name! I don't mind hearing it twice!" 

Brigite felt her cheeks growing warm. She hadn't expected D.Va to be so… laid back. "It's so cool to actually like, meet you in person! I'm… kind of… kind of a big fan…"

Hana felt a blush starting to creep into her own cheeks. _She's so cute! She's going to be SO disappointed when she finds out the whole "D.Va" thing is just an act._ "You are?" She managed to say. "That's so cool!"

"Yeah!" Brigitte said excitedly. "I've watched a _ton_ of your streams and I have posters _all_ over my room!" Brigitte felt her cheeks burn as her brain finally caught up with the conversation. "Wow, I'm so sorry, that must have sounded _so_ weird."

Hana shook her head, feeling her cheeks grow warmer as well. _No, you sound REALLY adorable._ "Trust me, if you'd met some of my fans, you would _not_ be worried about sounding weird. You actually seem pretty cool." At that moment, Hana's bubbly and aloof facade finally fractured. "Maybe I could sign some of your posters for you! I mean, if you want. It probably doesn't make much sense though, I mean--we'll probably be seeing each other almost every day, right?"

Brigitte felt the heat in her face spread down into her neck. It should have been obvious that she and D.Va would see each other quite often, but hearing her _say_ it was… Brigitte found herself so overwhelmed that she physically could not respond without bursting into tears, screaming, or likely a combination of both. "They, uh, when they told me we were getting a MEKA pilot… I assumed it was going to be some, like, random person or something. I never expected them to send you!" She stammered, quickly changing the subject.

Brigitte's deflection didn't go unnoticed by Hana, but it certainly was misinterpreted. _Good job, Hana. You've fucked it already. It hasn't even been five minutes. Urrrgh, you should have KNOWN a comment like that would make her uncomfortable. Whatever, you might as well try and let her down gently at this point. Baegchi._ "The truth is, MEKA is struggling," she admitted. "Anybody who tries to tell you differently is either in on the act, or one of the people fooled by it. The Gwishin gets stronger each time it attacks, and we can't keep up anymore. At the rate things are going, we maybe have half a year before they break through to the city--eight months if we're lucky. MEKA _needs_ Overwatch's help to fight the Gwishin. We can't risk this alliance falling through--the fate of the entire country hinges on its success. That's why they sent me. They figured that I had the best chance of making a good impression here, and securing the help we need." _And I've already failed. The way Lena talked about Brigitte, she must be popular here--if she doesn't like me, nobody will._

Brigitte's words cut through her thoughts. "I mean, it makes sense."

Hana felt her dark thoughts wash away as she dared to perk up. "What??" _She's just cool with it??_

"I saw about the most recent attacks in a holo-vid." Brigitte explained. Hana's honesty had almost completely released the tension in the conversation, and it had given Brigitte's brain a chance to finally catch up and process the fact that _D.Va was here!!!_ and _they were going to be teammates!!!_ Now that her initial Gay Panic had faded, Brigitte was starting to find it surprisingly easy to chat with her. "They said at one point the--how do you pronounce it, 'Gee-shin?'"

"Close enough," Hana confirmed, also feeling the awkwardness starting to fade.

"They said the Gwishin had attacked two weeks in a row, and that you single-handedly fended off the second attack. But you wouldn't have been alone unless the other MEKA were still being repaired, and there was no way that those repairs would have taken that long unless your squad took much more of a beating in the first fight than anyone had let on. So I'm not that surprised that the situation's… not as good as they say."

"You're right, but how would you know how long it takes to repair a MEKA?" Hana asked, curiosity overpowering the last of her nerves.

"Mechanical engineering has always kind of been my thing," Brigitte said, leaning back against the wall. "The MEKA have interested me ever since I first heard about them. They're incredible feats of engineering--packing so much offensive and defensive power into such an agile platform. I've pored over blueprints for all the models I could find. Mostly the discontinued ones, since the current models are still _super_ classified, but still. It's some pretty intense stuff, but unless there's been some sort of completely insane change in the core design, there's no way an experienced mechanic would have needed more than a couple of days to repair the kind of damage the news said you guys took."

"Well, maybe I could let you take a peek under Tokki's hood sometime!" Hana offered, excited to have someone to geek out with about her mech. "You could learn about the current state-of-the-art MEKA design, and in return… maybe you could help me work on it between missions?"

"Sure!" Working with D.Va on her MEKA was almost a dream come true for Brigitte. "I'd love to!!" 

"Awesome!" Hana was excited to have made her first plans with someone at her new home. _Speaking of which…_ she glanced at the pile of suitcases and bags in the corner of her room. Lena and Angela had helped her unpack and set up her gaming rig and monitor, but there was still a _lot_ left to do before the place actually _felt_ like home. She was going to be here a while.

Brigitte followed Hana's gaze and realized that she was probably expecting to have to do all the unpacking herself. Here was her chance to return the offer. "Hey, do you want help unpacking all that? I don't have anything planned today besides raiding the kitchen for donuts!"

Hana perked up. "Oh? Sure! Thanks!" More time with Brigitte sounded like a very good thing.

"Awesome!" Brigitte smiled brightly. "Let me just get changed into something more comfortable! I'll be right back!"

"Okay!" Brigitte left the room and Hana bit her bottom lip as she watched her go. _Joh-eun eongdeong-i..._

Brigitte returned to her own room and closed the door. She made her way to her closet, then hesitated. There was a chance that Hana might see inside her room at some point, and having D.Va posters scattered across her walls when that happened would be awkward, right? _Better take these down, just in case._ She pulled down all the posters and rolled them up, stowing them up on the top shelf of her closet. Then she stripped out of her nice clothes and slipped into a white tank top and a pair of tan cargo pants, double-checked her hair and makeup in the mirror (again) and made her way back to Hana's room. "Alright! Where do you want me to start?"

Hana looked up from her phone and felt her brain briefly freeze up. _M--muscles…_ "You can, uhh... Hang on." She hopped up from her bed and started rummaging through her bags.

As Hana bent over to look through her bags, Brigitte felt her cheeks grow hot. _Fin röv_ …

"You can help me with _this_ ," Hana grunted, trying to extract a very large suitcase from the bottom of the pile. She managed to pull it out, sending the suitcases on top of it tumbling to the floor. She slid it over next to her desk and popped it open, revealing a pink, disassembled gaming chair. "I figured that since you like fixing things, maybe it'd be fun to help me put my chair back together? You know, just as a start?"

"Of course! Just tell me what you want me to do!"

Hana started pulling pieces out of the suitcase and laying them out on the floor. "The actual seat is in two parts and they're a _bitch_ to get together on your own. Would you mind holding the back upright while I screw it to the base?" She asked as she fished through the suitcase for the screws.

"Sure!" Brigitte picked up the seat back and looked over it, before slotting it into the base. "Like this?"

Hana looked up and nodded. "Yep!" She lay down on the floor and began screwing the two parts together. 

Brigitte watched, struggling not to stare at Hana's bright pink leggings, which just fit her _so_ well… _Behave, Brigitte. Behave._

"Ok! That's one side done!" Hana announced, crawling around behind Brigitte to work on the other side. She inserted the screws and cranked them down with her screwdriver until the two parts were properly secured. "Awesome! Now we have to put the base together!" 

"What do I need to do for that?"

Hana laid out the five arms, the five casters, and the main hub. "First, you snap the wheels into the ends of the arms like this--" she demonstrated with one of the sets. "And then, you clip the arm into the slot in the base! That's one down, so there's two left for each of us!"

So Brigitte set about assembling the base with Hana. It was extremely easy work, but Brigitte didn't mind. It gave her an excuse to hang out with _The_ Hana Song, who was turning out to be a really cool and very sweet person.

"The pneumatic cylinder and the main bracket are already put together," Hana said, sliding the cylinder into the hole in the base hub and locking it in place. "So all that's left is to screw the seat onto the bracket!"

"Nice!" Brigitte said. As simple as this task was, she was enjoying her first project with her new friend. "I assume I just need to hold the seat still?"

"You got it!" Hana said with a cheery smile. Brigitte lifted the seat up onto the bracket and held it in place while Hana screwed the parts together. "Goengjang!" She exclaimed. "All done!" She turned to Brigitte. "You can go now if you want! Or you can stay and help me unpack my clothes and some other random stuff! Up to you!"

Brigitte shrugged. "I have nothing better to do, so I'm happy to stick around if you'll have me!" It was true that she had nothing better to do, though it was also true that there wasn't much Brigitte _would_ have considered better, anyways, so perhaps it was more of a white lie.

"Well, in that case…" Hana went back to the pile and unearthed a moderately-sized suitcase. "Don't touch this suitcase--this is all stuff I'll unpack on my own." She set the suitcase down next to the foot of her bed. "Everything else is fair game--just let me know what you got and I'll tell you where to put it!" She returned to the pile and started digging through it.

Brigitte looked through the pile and decided she might as well help with the biggest one.

"Careful," Hana warned as she saw Brigitte squatting to lift it. "That one's really heav--oh!" She felt her heart skip a beat as Brigitte effortlessly lifted the heavy suitcase. _Oh, that's hot._

"It's not that bad," Brigitte dismissed obliviously, setting the suitcase down on Hana's bed. "What's in here?" 

"All my tops," Hana replied, walking over. "Jackets and dresses, too."

Brigitte popped open the suitcase and took out a bright pink hoodie with D.Va's signature angry bunny logo emblazoned on the front. "You wear your own merch?" She asked.

"I gotta represent!" Hana replied with a giggle, pulling out a plain blue t-shirt.. "Besides, it's _really_ warm and comfy. You can hang that in the closet, by the way." As Brigitte fit the hoodie onto a hanger and hung it up, Hana put away the shirt in the dresser next to the closet. The two returned to the suitcase and as Brigitte started to pick up the next item, a light black MEKA jacket, Hana noticed the gear symbol tattooed on the Swedish girl's left shoulder. "What's this?" She asked, lightly touching Brigitte's shoulder with the tips of her fingers.

Brigitte felt her heart flutter at the unexpected--but not unwelcome--touch. "It means I'm in the Ironclad guild," she replied. "Well I was, before I joined Overwatch. I guess technically I still am, but I haven't done any work for them in a while."

"They built a lot of the old omnics, right?" Hana asked. "The ones from the first crisis?"

Brigitte sighed. "That's what they're best known for, sadly. But they've done a lot of peacetime work as well."

"What did you used to do for them?" Hana asked, selecting a baby blue dress. "And you can hang that jacket up next to the hoodie."

"Right," Brigitte said, walking over to the closet and hanging up the jacket. "Honestly, I didn't do a whole lot. I helped develop a few basic defense systems, but aside from that, just some fairly basic smithing." She returned to the suitcase and picked up a cute pink crop-top. "But, they taught me most of what I know, and I have some good memories there."

"That can go in the middle drawer of the dresser," Hana said, taking a black tank top.

"You know, on the topic of tattoos, it's actually weird to see you without your bunny whiskers," Brigitte commented. "I mean, I know they're not actual _tattoos_ , but it feels relevant."

"You mean my war paint?" Hana asked with a smile.

"Oh! I always thought they were bunny whiskers!" Brigitte said sheepishly.

Hana giggled. "No, they are! I just like to _call_ them 'war paint'. And I guess not many people see me without them. They _are_ part of my 'look,' after all!" 

They continued to chat as they unpacked the suitcase. Occasionally Brigitte would find a shirt with text written in Hangul and briefly interrupt the conversation to ask what it meant, and Hana was all too happy to translate. After the first couple of shirts, she began asking Brigitte how to say the phrases in Swedish.  
"What's this say?"

"Geim sijak! It means 'Game start!' How would you say that in Swedish?"

"Spelstart!" 

Eventually Brigitte started providing translations without Hana needing to ask her.

"What about this one?"

"Keogi kkeojyeo! That basically means 'flack off!'"

"Ooh! In Swedish we'd say 'släng dig i väggen!' And this?"

"Geim-eul hamyeon, igyeoyaji! That means 'I play to win!'"

"In Swedish it would be 'jag spelar för att vinna!'"

They continued to unpack and converse, frequently laughing at each other's attempts to pronounce the other's language, going through all the bags and suitcases until there was nothing left.

"That's the last one!" Hana said as she put away a pair of black sweatpants.

"Wait, really?" Brigitte asked. "What time is it??"

Hana opened her phone and her eyes widened in surprise. "10 pm?? You've been here for almost eight hours already!?"

"It feels like I just got here," Brigitte said.

"I know!" Hana agreed.

Brigitte heard her stomach growl. _Fan! I haven't eaten all day!_

Hana laughed. "I heard that! You should really get something to eat. It's getting late." Hana hoped that Brigitte didn't feel like she was being kicked out.

"Yeah." Brigitte started to walk out the door before pausing. "I'll uhhh… I'll see you tomorrow I guess?" she asked nervously, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Sure thing!" Hana replied excitedly. 

As the door to her room closed, Hana flopped down on her bed and resisted the urge to scream into her pillow. Brigitte was cute, smart, and funny, and most importantly she seemed just as eager to hang out as Hana was. _Maybe being sent here wasn't such a bad thing, after all…_

* * *

As Brigitte made her way to the kitchen, her stomach growling painfully the entire way, the high of hanging out with Hana started to wear off and her initial awkwardness began to make a return. It was, after all, that time of night for overthinking. She arrived at the kitchen feeling much less sure of herself, and found Lena brewing a late-night cup of tea. "There you are, big girl!" Lena said. "Nobody's seen you all afternoon. You even missed dinner!"

"I know," Brigitte said, opening the box of donuts on the counter and grabbing two. "I was helping Hana unpack. She has a _lot_ of stuff."

"I take it you two got off to a good start then?" Lena took her cup of tea and sat down at one of the tables, gesturing for Brigitte to sit next to her.

  
"I think so," Brigitte replied, taking the invitation and sitting down on the bench.

"You _think_ so?" Lena asked. "Brigitte, you spent all afternoon with her!"

"Yeah, I know," Brigitte sighed. "I'm being silly. But what can I say? She's a world-famous pro gamer and war hero, and what am I? Just a random girl living in the shadow of two former Overwatch agents. She was probably only being nice because I was a fan."

"Brigitte," Lena chided. "You know that's not fair! You could just as easily say that you're a badass shieldmaiden who's saved countless lives, a dragonslayer who was raised by two of the most legendary Overwatch heroes to ever live, and she's just a girl who drinks Mtn Dew, eats Doritos, plays video games, and lets her mech do all the fighting for her." She put a hand on Brigitte's shoulder and her tone softened. "When you think about how 'awesome' she is, you have to remember all you've ever seen of her is the purified version that the news shows--" Brigitte started to interrupt but Tracer already knew what she was going to say. "And yes, I _know_ you know it's all a load of rubbish, but that's not the same as seeing her faults with your own eyes, like you've seen yours. You've got to remember it's all just an act."

"That was one of the first things she told me..." Brigitte admitted.

"Then it sounds like she wants you to know her as Hana Song, _not_ as D.Va. I know it's easier said than done, but try your best to see her as an equal--not better than you somehow. It's a really important mindset to have on a team--and in other relationships as well," she added with a wink.

Brigitte blushed. "Lena, I--I'm not even _thinking_ about… well, okay, I guess I _am_ thinking about that, but… ugh!" She buried her face in her hands, feeling the tips of her ears turning red. "There's no _way_ it would ever happen!"

Lena scooched closer so that she could hold Brigitte by both shoulders. "When and where you apply this advice is up to you, luv. But if you ever need to talk about crushes, _especially_ on pretty ladies, I'll be here. Advice, comfort… whatever you need, I'll be happy to help any way I can."

Brigitte looked up from her hands. "Thanks, Lena," she said with a small smile.

"Any time, luv," Lena said, standing up from her seat. "I need to go call Emily. You should finish your donuts and get some sleep. Your whole schedule got thrown out of whack today, and you'll feel a lot better once you're back on track."

Thanks, Auntie Lena," Brigitte replied sarcastically.

Lena chuckled and ruffled Brigitte's hair. "Have a good night, big girl."

"You too." Brigitte finished her first donut and brought the second back to her room, where she finished it while scrolling through her phone, before she finally turned in for the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hej - "Hello" (Swedish)  
> Baegchi - "Idiot" (Korean)  
> Tokki - "Bunny" (Korean)  
> Joh-eun eongdeong-i... - "Nice ass..." (Korean)  
> Fin röv… - "Nice ass..." (Swedish)  
> Goengjang! - "Awesome!" (Korean)
> 
> All translations provided by Google Translate


	3. Chapter 3

Brigitte woke up feeling well-rested and _extremely_ hungry. She checked the time on her phone: 8am. _Good,_ she thought as she got out of bed. _Back on schedule_. She got dressed and headed for the kitchen, too hungry to bother with her hair and makeup yet.

The Watchpoint kitchen and dining area was originally the crew's quarters, but it had been retrofitted with the arrival of Lena, Mei, and the others. This included bringing in a single, large table, and this was where Brigitte found Reinhardt, Winston, Lúcio, and Mei sitting.

"Good morning, Brigitte!" Reinhardt boomed in the closest thing he had to an 'indoor voice'. "Did you sleep well?"

"Great!" Brigitte replied. "What about you?" She addressed the question to everyone.

The others talked over each other a bit but they all expressed the same sentiment. Brigitte grabbed a pair of breakfast wraps from the freezer and put them in the microwave.

"Could you tell if Hana was awake?" Winston asked. "I need to give her a proper tour of the site."

Brigitte shook her head. "I couldn't tell." She thought for a moment. "I thought you gave her a tour yesterday?"

"I showed her around a bit, yes," Winston said, "but that was mostly just so she could get her bearings. Where everyone's rooms are, where the kitchen is, the bathrooms… just the stuff she needed to know for her first day. Now that we're not dragging her bags around everywhere, I can give her a more in-depth tour."

"Oh." Brigitte hoped her disappointment wasn't as obvious as it felt. She had been looking forward to hanging out with Hana today, but knowing Winston's tendency to ramble, an "in-depth" tour with him would likely occupy most of the day.

Winston and Mei didn't notice Brigitte's slight change in attitude, but Reinhardt and Lúcio did, and they both gave Winston a subtle kick under the table.

Oh!" Winston exclaimed. "Don't worry, I'll try not to take too long! You'll have plenty of time to hang out with her after!"

Brigitte blushed, Reinhardt groaned, and Lúcio put his hand to his forehead. The awkwardness was thankfully interrupted by the sounds of Lena's chronal accelerator propelling her down the hall, and a split-second later she appeared in the room in a blur of baby blue. "Mornin', luvs!" She chirped brightly. "Everyone sleep well?" Everyone present confirmed that they had, in fact, slept well. "Excellent!" She zipped over to the sink and started pouring herself a cup of water for tea.

The microwave dinged and Brigitte collected her wraps and headed back to the table. As she passed Lena, she felt the Brit give her a soft pat on the back. Sitting down next to Reinhardt, Brigitte began to eat.

"Winston?" Mei spoke up. "Would there be any chance you could meet me in the labs after your tour? I'd like to study some of the interactions between barriers and my endothermic stream."

"Oh, of course!" Winston replied. "I'll head right to the lab once I'm done!"

"Okay! Have a good day, everyone!" Mei stood up and left the kitchen, and Lena put her water in the microwave.

"So Brigitte," Reinhardt asked, "what do you think of the new recruit? Is she everything you expected her to be?"

"Well I wasn't expecting her to be _D.Va_ ," Brigitte admitted. "And, honestly… I wasn't expecting her to be so friendly. She always comes off as so aloof during her streams and interviews!"

"Now I never met Hana personally before yesterday," Lúcio said, "but I _had_ heard that, when she drops the whole 'D.Va' thing, she's actually kinda sweet!"

"Yeah, she totally is!" Brigitte confirmed.

"So, do you still like her?" Reinhardt teased.

" _Reinhardt!_ " Brigitte snipped, blushing. "She could walk in here at any moment!!"

Reinhardt chuckled. "Okay, okay. Let me rephrase. Did you _get along_ with her?"

"I did, thanks for asking." Brigitte said flatly, crossing her arms in a huff.

"So... I've heard we're supposed to have lovely weather this week!" Lena offered before the silence got awkward. 

"Really?" Lúcio asked. "I don't pay much attention to the forecast."

"Yeah! It's supposed to be sunny, and a nice temperature!" The conversation continued for a bit before Reinhardt stood up.

"I'd best be going. I've got Hasselhoff to listen to!"

Lúcio rolled his eyes. "Come on, man! I can hear that shit from _my_ room! That's how you get tinnitus!"

"I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the ringing in my ears!" Reinhardt's voice echoed as he walked into the hallway. 

"I still can't tell if that dude's serious," Lúcio said.

"His ears only ring because he has nothing in between," Brigitte deadpanned.

"I should… probably get going too," Winston said. "I still have to do some paperwork before I give Hana her tour. Speaking of! If any of you see her before I do, send her to my office. Just in case she forgot."

"We gotcha covered, big guy," Lena assured him.

The three friends chatted for a bit, before eventually Lena and Lúcio both took their leave. Brigitte had long since finished eating by now, but she was wanted to stick around a bit longer, just in case Hana showed up.

The next people to arrive for breakfast, however, were Angela and Genji. Angela looked tired, though this was nothing new. "Good morning, Brigitte," she said.

"Morning Angela," Brigitte replied. "Morning, Genji."

"Good morning!" 

"Did you sleep well?" Brigitte asked.

"I did," Genji answered. "And you?"

"Pretty well! What about you, Angela?"

Mercy gave a low chuckle and began making herself some coffee. "As well as ever."

"What do you two think of Hana?" Brigitte asked. "I bet _you're_ excited to finally have some competition on our game nights," she added with a look at Genji.

Genji laughed. "You're getting better every week! You almost beat me last time!"

"Almost," Brigitte smiled. "But not quite. You still need to be put in your place!"

"We will see if she has what it takes," Genji said with a smile. 

The three chatted for some time before Angela and Genji both headed off to continue their days. Brigitte checked her phone. It was almost 10:00. Just as she was about to give up, she heard a yawn and Hana walked into the room, looking _very_ tired.

"Morning, Brigitte…" Hana murmured.

"Morning Hana… did you have trouble sleeping?" Brigitte asked, concerned.

Hana shrugged. "I always have trouble sleeping in new places. I'll be fine after a few days." She started rummaging around in the cabinets. "What do you have for breakfast here?"

"Well, Angela usually does most of the shopping, so if you want anything specific you should talk to her. But for now, we have breakfast wraps, bagels, donuts--"

"Wait!" Hana perked up slightly as she pulled a green cereal box out of one of the cabinets. "You have Lúcio-ohs?!"

"Well, yeah," Brigitte replied. "We have Lúcio!"

"Oh yeah… I didn't even think about that." Hana poured herself a heaping bowl and grabbed some milk from the fridge, pouring some into the bowl before returning the jug.

"By the way, Winston wanted to make sure you remember to meet him in his office for your tour."

Hana drooped. "Oh… right. Any idea how long that will take?" She sat down next to Brigitte.

"Well, depending on when you two start, and how much he feels like talking… you'll probably be done sometime around 4 or 5… Why? Do you have any plans?"

 _Other than hanging out with you, no…_ "Nah, just… trying to map out my day." Hana ate a spoonful of her cereal. "...What about you?" 

"Well, I'll probably do some work on my armor in the workshop," Brigitte said, absent-mindedly twirling a lock of her hair. "And then I'll have lunch, and after that I'll probably spend some time at the gym, but most of my afternoon's free after that!"

Hana felt her heartbeat quicken slightly. "Oh! Do you… do you think we could... hang out after I'm done my tour?" _This is ridiculous! Why am I so nervous? I've talked to cute girls before! It must just be because I'm tired. Yeah, that must be it._

"Of course!" Brigitte exclaimed, trying not to sound too excited. "You can meet me in my room once you're done!"

"Great!" At that moment Brigitte's phone beeped and she pulled it out of her pocket to check. It was a text from Winston.

[Have you seen Hana yet?]

[Yeah she's here eating breakfast.] [I'll send her up as soon as she's done.]

"That reminds me…" Hana began, before trailing off.

"Reminds you of what?" Brigitte asked, glancing up from her phone.

Hana's heart started to pound in her ears. "I--never mind… It wasn't that important anyway." _Dammit, Hana!!_ She cursed herself. _You had the PERFECT opportunity to ask her for her number and you just chickened out! What is WRONG with you?!_ She looked down and started eating her cereal again, hoping the move hid her face well enough that Brigitte couldn't see her flustered frustration.

Brigitte was too busy hoping her own disappointment wasn't as obvious as it felt. A part of her had hoped that Hana had been about to ask for her number, but that was evidently just wishful thinking, and Brigitte didn't have the courage to ask Hana for hers.

Hana finished her cereal and stood up, still blushing slightly. "I… don't want to keep Winston waiting… I'll, uh, I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, see ya," Brigitte replied, trying to sound excited. And she was--very much so, but as Hana left the room her immediate emotions were those of distress. Hana's withdrawal from the conversation had been strange and abrupt, and Brigitte spent the next several minutes trying to figure out what she might have done wrong. _Did I come on too strong somehow? Was my crush on her really that obvious?_ She sighed and began the long walk back to her room to properly get ready for the day.

She put up her hair and changed into her work clothes; a gray grease-stained tank top and brown, oil-streaked cargo pants. She didn't bother to shower or do her makeup yet, since she'd be getting greasy and sweaty today anyways. She walked down the hill from fuel storage to the hangar, through the heavy steel garage door at the back of munitions, and into the workshop. As was usually the case, she was the only one there. Reinhardt occasionally stopped by to help work on his armor, but smithing and mechanics weren't really his thing. She flipped on the lights and a small section of the workshop was illuminated with harsh, cold light. Reinhardt and Brigitte's armors were mounted on stands on this side of the shop, but much of the room remained empty, even with a new silhouette standing just outside of the light.

Brigitte immediately knew what it was--there was only one thing that could have appeared in the workshop since she was last there, and it was D.Va's mech. Curious, she started the forge before flipping on the next row of lights and walking over to take a look. It was hunched down right now, but even so the bright pink machine was a bit bigger than she had imagined. From a distance it looked pristine, but upon closer inspection she could tell it had seen its share of action. Small imperfections in the surface of the metal showed where bullet holes had been patched, and where dents had been hammered out. There were patches of paint that just didn't _quite_ match the rest. The thick polycarbonate window over the cockpit showed hundreds of small scuffs and scratches, and the cradle that held the operator prone at the controls had splotches of discoloration--possibly bloodstains that never quite came out.

She made her way around the mech. She couldn't see the top without climbing up, which she wasn't about to do without Hana's permission, but she could still see some parts of the design. Heavy canvas sheathes protected the powerful hydraulics in the mech's legs, but the joints in the arms were uncovered. She made a mental note to ask Hana about that. She walked around the back of the mech--nothing particularly interesting there besides the cockpit hatch, and around to the other side, where she examined the fusion cannons. 

The three rotating barrels were stained with smoke from the countless shots that had been fired from them, and though she couldn't get a good look, the scorching at the base could mean their bearings were starting to go. The armor on the "forearms" had also seen better days, with dozens of small scratches, dents, and other imperfections that hadn't quite been fully fixed. _Whoever does the work on Hana's mech is good, but they're no metalsmith._

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the workshop door opening. "This is the workshop," she heard Winston say from the other side. "Brigitte's the only person who really uses it, but sometimes Reinhardt--"

"Brigitte!" Hana interrupted Winston as the door opened wide enough for her to see inside. "I didn't think I'd see you again until later!" 

"Neither did I," Brigitte replied with a small smile. _I hope she's not upset I was checking out her mech…_

"I see you and Tokki are getting to know each other," Hana bounded over to her, her usual energy starting to make a return. "What do you think?"

Brigitte felt her nerves fade. Thankfully Hana didn't seem to mind her curiosity. "It's so cool to see one in person!"

Hana giggled. "All the MEKAs are a bit different," she said, leaning against the side of hers. "Some of them it's just the way they look, but a lot of them have custom tech! My micro-missiles aren't standard issue, for example, and there's one guy who replaced his defense matrix with a projected hard-light barrier! But they all have the same fusion core design--here, lemme show you!" She started to climb on top of her mech, but she froze when Winston spoke up.

"Uhhh, Hana? There's, um, still a lot I need to show you…"

"Ugh, fiiine," Hana sighed, sliding off her mech and back to the ground. Winston was right, after all, and she could always show Brigitte around another time. "We still on for hanging out later?" She asked Brigitte as she walked backwards towards Winston.

"Of _course_!" Brigitte replied with a bright smile.

"See ya then!" 

As Hana left the shop and the door closed, Brigitte felt much better. Whatever had been bothering Hana earlier, it didn't seem to be a problem now. She walked back to her armor, and began examining it. It was still battered and banged up from their last mission--she'd been so busy repairing Reinhardt's armor that he regularly obliterated any time he stepped outside with it, she hadn't had the chance to start working on her own until now. As she looked over the damage, memories of their last battle came flooding back…

* * *

"Reinhardt's down!" Mercy called out as bullets and rockets shot by overhead. "Cover me while I help him!"

"I'm on it!" Brigitte moved in front of Mercy and deployed her barrier. It wasn't big enough to protect Mercy from all angles, but it would have to do. "Tracer! Draw their fire!"

"You got it!" Tracer reloaded her pulse pistols and zipped around a Null Sector unit. "Oi! Wanker!" She yelled as she drilled an entire clip into the side of one of the omnics' heads. "Over here!"

Brigitte could feel her barrier shake as dozens of bullets pounded at it, the glassy surface rippling as it absorbed the impact of the attacks. "How much longer, Mercy?" She asked, cracks beginning to form in her barrier. "I can't take much more of this!"

"Just a few more moments!" Mercy called back.

As the rain of bullets continued, the cracks spread, until with a loud _Crash!_ Brigitte's barrier shattered. "My barrier's dow--AAUGH!" She screamed in pain as a sniper bullet tore through her right leg, dropping her. "Arrghhh!!" She gritted her teeth in pain and covered her head with her shield. She had gone through a great deal of effort to design a barrier that, when broken, would collapse into a traditional metal shield, and as bullets clattered against its surface, it seemed as if those efforts were saving her life once again. 

"I've got you, Brigitte!" Mercy called as her caduceus staff locked on to her, and the pain began to fade. At almost the same moment, she heard Reinhardt grunt, and a massive wall of blue light spread out in front of her. After a second or so, the pain subsided enough for her to stand, but it was far from gone. She--

* * *

Brigitte shook her head, forcing her mind to return to the present. _Maybe this is why Reinhardt has such an active imagination…_ she thought as she set down the right greave on a work table. "No," she said aloud, forcing her dark thoughts away. _Don't think about that. Think about happy things. Like Hana._ She grabbed her metal grinder and began the process of grinding the ragged, twisted bullet hole into a smoother, more regular shape. Once she was done, she took some measurements of the new hole and selected an appropriately-sized piece of scrap. Putting on a heavy pair of gloves, she grabbed the scrap with a pair of tongs and began heating it in the forge.

Over the next couple of hours, she slowly hammered the scrap into the same size and shape as the hole it would fill, heating it whenever it became too firm to work with, and periodically checking it against the hole. Once she was satisfied with the fit, she heated it once more and hammered it into place. Then, she donned her welding mask and welded the parts together, before returning to her grinder and shaving the surface down until it was perfectly smooth. Once she painted over it, it would be impossible to tell that there was any damage in the first place. But as she wiped the sweat from her brow, she felt her stomach growl obnoxiously. It was well after lunch time, after all. _I suppose painting can wait for another time._

The dining area was empty by the time she arrived, which she should have expected--after all, she'd gotten off to a late start in the workshop. Still, she was rather disappointed that she'd missed Hana. She tossed together a big lunch and chowed down on it alone, before heading to her room.

As she flopped down on her bed, she pulled out her phone and checked the time. 2 pm. By the time her lunch digested enough for her to work out, Hana would probably be done her tour anyways. _Welp, I guess I'm not exercising today_ , she thought, more accepting than disappointed. _Guess I'll get my shower out of the way now._ She sat up and went to her closet to pick out the clothes she'd wear for later in the day. She settled on a pair of blue jeans, and her favorite "I like exercise" crop-top.

She took some extra time to make sure her hair and makeup were perfect after her shower, but even so she'd been lying on her back staring at her phone for nearly two hours before she finally heard a knock on the door. "Brigitte? Are you there?" Hana asked from the other side.

"Yeah, I'm here!" Brigitte replied, sitting up. "You can come in!" The door slid open and in walked Hana, wearing a white off-the-shoulder top and a pair of jean shorts. "How did your tour go?" Brigitte asked.

"Not bad," Hana replied, looking around at Brigitte's room. "Winston definitely rambled a bit, but it was cool to see all the different areas of--wait! Is that a PS4?!?" She rushed over to Brigitte's desk and examined the black box sitting on top of it.

"Yeah!" Brigitte said proudly, standing up from her bed and walking over next to Hana.

"You're into retro games, _too?!_ " Hana asked in disbelief. Brigitte was big, strong, _really_ pretty, interested in mechanics, _and_ a gamer? It was almost too much! "You just got, like, a _thousand_ times cooler! And you were already really cool!" Subtlety and nerves had temporarily flown out the window for Hana as her excitement bordered on overwhelming. "Can I pick it up?"

"Thanks," Brigitte said, feeling her entire face burn red. "And yeah, it's not on."

Hana picked up the PS4 and turned it over in her hands. "Where did you even _find_ one of these?!"

"My grandmother was a big gamer," Brigitte said. "I was the only one in the family who really wanted her old stuff, so I kind of inherited it?" 

Hana set the console back down on the table and looked up at Brigitte, barely resisting the urge to hop up and down with excitement. "What games do you have for it?" She asked.

"Well, I have a bunch of the classic Assassin's Creeds, all of the Uncharted games, Horizon Zero Dawn, The Last Of Us… there's some others I don't have with me. It's mostly just the mainstream stuff but, I like it." 

"Do you have anything we could play together?"

Brigitte seemed disappointed. "I uhm… I don't really… wait!" She perked up. "I do have one! It's called Starwhal"

"Lemme grab my chair! I'll be right back!" Hana rushed out of the room, across the hall, grabbed her chair, and rolled it back into Brigitte's room, hopping into the seat as it crossed the threshold. "Look out!" She rolled through the room, the seat spinning around its axle until Brigitte grabbed it and brought it to a stop.

"Gotcha, Kanin!" Brigitte laughed. 

"Thanks!" Hana giggled. "Wait," she turned around in her chair to face Brigitte. "What did you call me?"

"Oh," Brigitte blushed. "Uh, 'Kanin.' It means 'bunny.'" She rubbed the back of her neck nervously. "Sorry, it, uhh… it just kinda… slipped out…"

"What? No!" Hana scrambled up to kneel on her chair so that she was close to eye-level with Brigitte. "No, I like it! It's cute!" Her cheeks warmed a bit at her own boldness.

"Oh, okay!" Brigitte's cheeks reddened further, but a small smile touched her lips. "By the way, here's your controller."

"Player _two??_ " Hana asked with mock indignation as she took the controller. "I've never been so insulted in my life!"

Brigitte laughed, and Hana felt her heart flip-flop. _Of course her laugh's adorable, too. Everything else about her is._

"My room, my console, my rules," Brigitte said with a grin. "If you want to be player one, you gotta play me for it."

Hana raised an eyebrow. "You think you can take me? In a _video game?_ I used to do this for a living, you know!"

"Don't get so cocky, Song," Brigitte warned. "I bet I know this game _way_ better than you do."

"Oh, we're on a last name basis for this?" Hana smirked. "Alright, _Lindholm,_ you're on! Uhhh… how do I play?"

Brigitte chuckled. "It's really pretty simple. You just hold down the right trigger to move, and you use the left stick to turn. You have to try to pierce my heart, and I have to try to pierce yours!"

"That sounds easy!" Hana scoffed.

"We'll see about that."

* * *

**_Round 1: Pierce the heart!_ **

The two narwhals began their awkward, floppy advance towards each other. 

"What is this??" Hana exclaimed. "This is _impossible_ to control!"

"I warned you!" Brigitte laughed.

Hana's narwhal got itself wedged in a corner. "Dodaeche! I'm stuck!"

Brigitte's narwhal dove in for the kill. "Gotcha!" Brigitte cried triumphantly.

"No fair!" Hana whined. "I've never played this before!"

"Oh, does the great _D.Va_ need a redo?" Brigitte teased.

"You're so mean!" Hana gave Brigitte a playful smack on the shoulder.

* * *

**_Round 2_ **

Right from the start, Hana's narwhal made a beeline for Brigitte's. Brigitte expertly ducked underneath Hana's charge and tipped her nose up, stabbing her tusk clean through Hana's heart.

"Jenjang!" Hana cursed.

"Best three out of five?"

"You're on!"

* * *

 ** _Round 3_**  
"Nongdam hae?!"

"Best four out of seven?"

"You can put that eyebrow down, Lindholm."

"Make me!"

* * *

**_Round 13_ **

"I think I've got it this time!" Hana flung her narwhal towards Brigitte's, ducking down at the last second and then pitching its nose up as Brigitte's narwhal flew past above her.

"Nice try, Kanin!" Brigitte teased, aiming downwards to arch her narwhal's back, pulling its heart just out of reach of Hana's tusk. Continuing the turn, she looped around behind Hana's narwhal and gave chase. Hana tried to loop back over and dive onto Brigitte's exposed heart, but Brigitte twisted up and parried the attack with her own tusk.

"Dammit!" Hana growled. Brigitte's narwhal pushed forward, trying to get its tusk in range of Hana's heart. "Oh no you don't!" Hana twisted her narwhal back, and for a second they raced across the arena back to back, before Brigitte dropped back and let her narwhal fall to the ground on its back, its vulnerable heart completely exposed. "Are you _taunting_ me?!" Hana asked with feigned offense.

"Come on, bunny!" Brigitte smirked, as her narwhal let out an antagonizing chirp. "Or are you more of a _chicken_?" 

Hana gasped. "You did _not_ just say that!" Brigitte's narwhal chirped again. "Okay, now you're _toast!"_ Hana's narwhal looped around and dove aggressively at Brigitte's exposed heart. At the last second, Brigitte took off, and Hana's tusk slammed into the ground just behind her tail. 

"Too slow!"

"Get back here!" Hana's narwhal gave chase, and for a moment the two raced around the perimeter of the arena. Brigitte peeled off of the edge and swam to the other side of the arena. Hana tried to follow, but she wasn't as experienced at piloting her narwhal, and wasted crucial time flopping about.

Brigitte saw her chance. Pirouetting around, she charged at Hana, who couldn't move out of the way in time. Time slowed as Brigitte's tusk found its mark, Hana's heart shattered, and her narwhal broke apart, the pieces falling to the floor of the arena. "Ha!" Brigitte exclaimed triumphantly.

Hana put her controller on the desk in defeat. "Whatever. It's a dumb game about dumb floppy neon narwhals. There's no skill involved!"

"If there's no skill involved, then how come you couldn't even beat me once?" Brigitte gave Hana's stomach a playful poke.

"Dagchyeo!" Hana giggled, pushing Brigitte away and sending their chairs rolling in opposite directions. "What do you want to play next?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap, this one ran away from me! I didn't want to end it on a cliffhanger, but it's already almost as long as the last two chapters combined! As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and feel free to let me know what you think!
> 
> Translations:  
> "Dodaeche!" - "What the hell! / Why!" (Korean)  
> "Jenjang!" - "Damn it!" (Korean)  
> "Nongdam hae?!" - "Are you kidding me?!" (Korean)  
> "Dagchyeo!" - "Shut up!" (Korean)
> 
> All translations courtesy of Google Translate.


	4. Chapter 4

Brigitte awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. "Well… I don't really _have_ anything else we can play together…"

"Awww, man!" Hana glanced around Brigitte's room, hoping to find something to keep the conversation going. "Wait… didn't you say you had posters?"

"Oh, I…" Brigitte blushed slightly. "I did…"

"Where are they?" Hana asked.

Brigitte's felt her cheeks growing warmer. "I, uhh… I… I kinda took them down…" she admitted quietly. "I felt like it'd be weird to have them up…"

"What?" Hana bounced up from her chair. "No! I already said it's not weird!" Brigitte looked away in an attempt to hide her blush. "Come on!" Hana exclaimed, grabbing Brigitte's arm and trying to pull her out of her chair. "I wanna see what you've got!"

"Okay, okay!" Brigitte stood up and grabbed the posters from her closet as Hana jumped onto her bed. Brigitte sat down next to her and unrolled the first poster, which featured Hana holding a glass bottle of Nano Cola and winking against a light blue background.

"Oh wow!" Hana exclaimed. "This was the first ever poster from my Nano Cola partnership! I forgot how _skinny_ I was back then!"

"Wait, that's real?" Brigitte asked, surprised. "I always thought that was edited!"

Hana shook her head. "Nope. That was just before I drank Nano Cola regularly! I've gotten some crap for my weight gain, but screw it. I'm happier and healthier now."

"What?" Brigitte asked, stunned. "People gave you crap for it?? You're still-- I mean…" she trailed off awkwardly, unsure of what Hana's boundaries were for this topic.

"Still kinda skinny?" Hana finished for her, her warm smile showing that she wasn't bothered.

"Yeah," Brigitte confirmed, glad that Hana didn't seem to mind.

Hana shrugged. "Haters gonna hate," she dismissed. She patted the posters on Brigitte's lap. "What else you got there?"

Brigitte unrolled the next poster, which showed Hana in a Nano Cola themed jumpsuit, proudly holding up a can of the soda and looking over her shoulder at the camera.

"Ooh!" Hana gasped. "This one is one of my favorites!"

"How so?"

"The photographer for it was really nice. Each take, he'd tell me a joke right before he took the shot, cuz 'real smiles always look better than fake ones.' I felt like I got to show a bit more of the real me than I usually do on these shots!"

"That's awesome!" Brigitte smiled.

"What's next?" Hana had scooched a little closer to Brigitte with each poster, and now their thighs were just barely touching. For Brigitte, it was enough to make her heartbeat flutter like a hummingbird as she opened the next poster, a promotional piece for _Hero Of My Storm_. "Oh no!" Hana laughed as she saw the poster. "Not this movie!"

"What?" Brigitte asked. "It's gonna be that bad?"

"Oh no, the movie's gonna be great! But the director, Hal-fred Glitchbot? Rrrgh!" Hana growled through gritted teeth.

"Really?" Brigitte asked in disbelief. "What was he like?"

"He demanded a personal escort every time he wanted to go from his parking spot to his trailer. It wasn't even 600 feet, but he wouldn't move unless someone walked next to his car! And if you moved too far away from him, he'd start going _backwards_ , until he either got to a gate or someone started walking next to his dumb limo again! And he had the nerve to insult us the entire time! It was the most ridiculous, stuck-up power fantasy I've ever seen!"

"Holy shit!" Brigitte gasped. "That's awful!"

"I know right?" Hana steamed. "Eolgan-i."

"It's a shame," Brigitte said, disappointed. "I really wanted to see that movie, but there's no _way_ I'm buying a ticket if he was like that!" 

"I can take you when it comes out if you want to go!" Hana offered. "Cast members get to view it for free, and we get a plus one! You can see the movie, and you won't have to give Glitchbitch a single credit!"

"You'd use your plus one on me?" Brigitte asked. 

Hana shrugged. "I won't be in Korea when it comes out, so it's either you or or some random stranger I find at the theatre. And personally, I'd rather use my plus one on a friend." She gave Brigitte a meaningful smile.

"Wait... friend?" Brigitte wasn't sure if she heard correctly.

"I mean, yeah…" Hana said, suddenly worried she might have overstepped her bounds. "I… I know we've only known each other for two days, but you're nice, and funny, and I like hanging out with you. That's… that's what friends are, right?"

"Oh! Yeah!" Brigitte exclaimed, blushing. "I just… never thought I'd be lucky enough to be friends with _the_ Hana Song! Sorry, I hope it didn't seem like I… don't want to be friends! I do!"

Hana giggled. _She's too cute!_ "It's okay! Buuut… you still haven't answered my question…"

"Well, yeah, but…" Brigitte didn't have enough confidence in herself for this. "I mean, what about the other people here? I'm sure some of them want to--"

Hana put a hand on Brigitte's shoulder. "Brigitte, do you want to go to the movies with me or not?"

"I- I do! But--"

"Then shut up," Hana interrupted with a warm smile. She felt a blush creep into her cheeks. _Why am I blushing?_ Hana thought to herself. _It's just two friends going to the movies, right? It's not like it_ has _to be a date… why do I kind of want it to be a date? There's no_ way _I have a crush on this girl already. It's been two days! I'm not that useless!_ "So, uh, what other posters do you have?"

A few posters later, Hana felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She checked it to see a text from Lúcio.

[Yo Hana, you coming to dinner?]

"Hey, wanna get food?" Hana asked Brigitte. "I didn't realize how late it was getting!"

"What?" Brigitte checked her own phone. "Yeah, good call!"

Hana texted Lúcio back as they stood up. [Yeah! Sorry, I've been hanging out with Brigitte and we lost track of time! We'll be right down.]

* * *

"And then Torbjörn said, 'I'm more disappointed the jetpack doesn't work!'" Reinhardt's voice echoed through the hall as Hana and Brigitte arrived at the dining area to see him talking to the entire Overwatch crew. "Oh, Brigitte! I was just telling everyone about the time you tried to make a jetpack for Mitzi!"

"Herregud…" Brigitte covered her face with her hands. "Reinhardt, _please_!"

"Wait, who's Mitzi?" Hana asked. _Does she have a boyfriend?_

"My cat," Brigitte groaned from behind her hands.

"You made a jetpack for your cat?" 

"I was _seven!_ " Brigitte defended, dragging her hands down her now very red face. The story was embarrassing enough on its own, but having it told in front of Hana made her want to disappear on the spot.

"In fairness, the cat was never in any danger!" Reinhardt added. "The jetpack had no moving parts and she tried to fuel it with water!"

" _Reinhardt!"_

"It was harmless, really! She tried to solder it together with pencil lead!"

" _REINHARDT!_ "

"That's _adorable_!" Hana giggled. She turned to Brigitte. "So you knew you wanted to he an engineer pretty early, huh?"

The question may have been innocent, but, to Brigitte, Hana's bright and lilted tone sounded more jeering than friendly. She was on the verge of bursting into tears from embarrassment and anger, and she stormed over to the fridge and swung the door open without a word. Reinhardt _always_ told this story to new people as a way of teasing her, and as embarrassing as it was, it had never bothered her this much before. But this time was different. It was in front of Hana, a literal celebrity who Brigitte was just starting to be friends with, and who _somehow_ thought she was cool. Of all the people in the room, Hana was the one Brigitte desperately wanted to impress. And now she looked like a fool.

Hana felt her heart drop into her stomach like a rock. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean--" she was interrupted by Brigitte slamming the fridge door shut and stomping over with a plate of food to a small table in the corner of the room. Hana turned back to the main group at the table, the distress clear in her face. "Did-- did I say something wrong?!"

"She'll be fine," Reinhardt assured. "She just gets embarrassed when I tell the story in front of pret--" Brigitte shot him a death glare from the corner of the room. "...In front of new people." Reinhardt sighed. "It was my fault."

Lena put a small hand on Reinhardt's massive back. "He just gets carried away when he tells his stories," she said, as much to Brigitte as Hana. "He didn't mean anything by it."

Hana stood rooted in place. She knew Brigitte probably wanted to be left alone, but she couldn't shake the feeling that her comment had pushed her over the edge, and it felt _horrible_. She had to apologize, at least. Hesitantly, she made her way towards Brigitte and gently put her hand on her shoulder. "Brigitte, I--" Brigitte sharply shrugged off Hana's touch. "I'm sorry," Hana said softly. She stood there for a moment, but there was no response. 

"Give her some space, Hana," Lúcio called over. "She'll talk when she's ready." Hana stayed for another moment, before finally tearing herself away and going back to the main table, where she sat down next to Lúcio and looked down at the table. "You're not gonna get some food?" He asked.

"Not hungry," Hana said flatly. Her heart currently felt like it was taking up all the space in her stomach. She felt Lúcio give her a gentle pat on the back.

"You should try to eat something, at least," Lúcio said softly. "You'll be hungry later."

"Then I'll _deal_ with it later," Hana replied coldly. 

* * *

Dinner passed by quietly. There were a few attempts at conversation, but they all died quickly. Brigitte's feelings for Hana were well-known by the team, and her reaction under those circumstances was understandable, but it had left an uncomfortable weight hanging over the room. Hana's reaction also raised some questions in the minds of those at the table, but the air was too heavy to even consider broaching them.

One by one, as those present finished their food, they made their exit quietly, until Lúcio, Hana, and Brigitte were the only ones left.

"Come on, Hana," Lúcio said gently. "We should get going." He led Hana to the door, but the Korean paused, clearly conflicted about leaving Brigitte behind. "There's nothing you can do right now. The best thing is to leave her be."

Hana sighed. She hated leaving her friends angry, but Lúcio was right. There was nothing she could do. As they left the hallway into the hangar she spoke up. "Hey, do you mind if I hang with you for a bit?"

"'Course not. My door is always open. Metaphorically, of course."

Lúcio's room was cluttered, but not messy. Frog-themed memorabilia was scattered about the place, and much of the room was occupied by various instruments and his DJ deck. 

"So, how are you liking the Watchpoint?" Lúcio asked, sitting down in his chair.

"It's nice," Hana replied, taking a seat on Lúcio's bed. "It seems like there's a lot of stuff to do."

"Did Winston show you the docks?"

"What docks?" Hana was surprised that in all of Winston's rambling, he'd managed to leave out any part of the base.

"You should ask Brigitte to show you them," Lúcio suggested. "They're one of her favorite places to hang out!"

"Are you trying to set us up?" Hana asked suspiciously.

Lúcio laughed. He was, but he wasn't going to make it that obvious. He shook his head. "Nah, I just know that you two like hanging out, and that's a good place to do it!"

"If she even wants to hang out anytime soon," Hana said, a hint of bitterness in her voice. "Seriously, I'm really worried that I hurt her today."

"Don't be. Brigitte's got the biggest heart of anyone I know. She's loyal to a fault--you probably couldn't drive her away even if you tried. You've already gotten her to like you. The only way she's leaving now is if you ask her to."

Hana sighed, absent-mindedly playing with a lock of her long hair. "You always make everything seem like it's going to be okay."

"In my experience, it almost always is." Lúcio leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up onto his desk. "People worry too much. If you think about it, everything is either in your control, or out of it. Anything that's in your control you can fix, and anything that's out of your control is gonna do what it wants no matter what. So there's really no point in stressing about anything."

"I… I guess that's true…"

"Hey, you're not gonna believe it right away. But keep telling yourself it, and you'll find that it'll start to come true." Hana gave a thankful smile in response, and Lúcio decided to move to happier topics for a bit. "Wanna hear the song I'm working on? I'm trying to find another healing beat, and this one feels like it might be promising!"

"Sure!" Hana exclaimed, thankful for the distraction. "You know how much I love your work!" Lúcio was a master of his craft. Something about his music could make your pain feel like it was fading away, or invigorate you with an energy you didn't know you had. She had heard that it was even enough to make a difference in combat, and even Angela had confirmed it to be true when Hana had asked about it during their first introduction. Perhaps it could help her today.

* * *

It was late when Hana finally left Lúcio's room, and as she arrived at the hallway that she and Brigitte shared, she hesitated next to the Swedish girl's door. She didn't want to bother Brigitte, but she found that she couldn't go back to her room without at least trying one more time to make Brigitte feel better. It was clear that the older girl still felt that Hana was somehow above her, and it was already starting to cause friction between them. Hana decided to try telling Brigitte an embarrassing story of her own--perhaps it could help knock her down a peg or two in the Swede's eyes.

She raised her fist and gently knocked on the metal door. "Brigitte?" She said softly. She heard sounds from inside the room, and after a moment the door slid open. Brigitte was wearing a set of loose, cat-patterned pajamas, her hair was down, and she had taken off her makeup. She still looked a little upset, and it was clear she hadn't planned on seeing anyone for the rest of the day, but still, she seemed willing to talk. 

"What?" Brigitte asked. There was an irritated edge to her voice, but she didn't sound hostile.

"I want to tell you about the time I accidentally punched myself with my own mech."

Brigitte's tone shifted to one of confusion. "What??"

"I want to tell you about the time I accidentally punched myself with my own mech," Hana repeated.

"Why?"

"So that we'll be even," Hana said with a soft smile. "I know an embarrassing story about you, so it's only fair that you learn one about me."

"Sure, I guess?" Hana's request was a strange one, but Brigitte didn't feel any reason to turn it down. In truth, she hadn't even given much thought to the idea that Hana might have her own embarrassing stories. She sat down on her bed and Hana hopped down next to her.

"So," Hana began, her tone bright and cheerful. "About two years ago I got back from a late-night mission and had to rebuild the hydraulics and fly-by-wire connections in Tokki's left arm as part of the repairs. Not exactly routine, but I've done it enough times that it shouldn't have been difficult. Buuuut, I was tired, and while I was doing the repairs I accidentally mixed up some of the connections. Specifically the ones for forward and back, and left and right."

"Oh no!" Brigitte laughed.

"I finished putting the arm back together, and I decided I'd run some tests before I went to bed. I started with a punch--it's the biggest workout for the hydraulics, and if there was still a leak or a loose part, that's the quickest way to find out. Now, it's worth noting that _officially_ we're supposed to run any and all tests from the pilot's seat, but a lot of people didn't bother with that for simple tests, and I was one of them. So, when I jammed the flight stick forward to punch the arm, I was standing right next to it, with my back against the cockpit. _Wham!_ " She punched her fist into the palm of her other hand. "Full force, right to the fuckin tits."

" _Oh my god!_ " Brigitte exclaimed. "How… how hard does that thing hit??"

"I don't know the exact numbers," Hana admitted, her tone still as upbeat as ever, "But it was enough to break five of my ribs, crack another three, knock the wind clear out of me and fuck up my back enough that it took two surgeries to fix it. If I hadn't been pinned against the cockpit, it probably would have thrown me about fifteen feet."

" _Oh!_ " Brigitte gasped, eyes widened in horror. "Were you okay?" She immediately felt silly for asking.

"Of course not!" Hana replied. "My teammates _still_ give me shit about it!"

"No! I mean, that must have _hurt_!"

"Oh absolutely, but it doesn't anymore. All that's left is my embarrassment from being used as an example in a MEKA safety training holo-vid. They may have changed my name, but _I_ still know." She dramatically threw her arm up to her forehead and collapsed backwards onto the bed. "My pride shall _never_ recover!"

Brigitte laughed, a sound that Hana was quickly becoming quite fond of.

"So," Hana grunted as she sat back up. "Between Jetpack Cat and Hana Pulverizing Herself With Her Own Mech, who wins?"

"I have to say you have me beat on this one," Brigitte chuckled. "Congratulations."

"Awesome!" Hana said in D.Va's classic, high-pitched voice. "Score one for D.Va!"

"Do you have to make _everything_ a competition?" Brigitte asked, laughing again.

"Only when I know I can win!" Hana replied. She yawned and her voice returned back to normal. "Honestly though, it's getting pretty late, and if I don't head back to my room now I'll probably wind up falling asleep on your floor." She turned to face Brigitte and gave her a soft smile. "You feeling better?"

Brigitte returned the smile. "Much. Thank you, Hana."

"Anytime." She gave Brigitte a pat on the shoulder and headed for the door. "Sleep well!"

"You too!"

Once Hana had changed into her pajamas, brushed her teeth, and turned off her lights, she went to bed and closed her eyes with a smile. _Looks like Lúcio was right! There_ was _nothing to worry about! Brigitte took that really well!_

A minute later a realization hit her like a truck and her eyes shot open. _AND I STILL DON'T HAVE HER NUMBER!!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> "Eolgan-i" - "Jerk/Asshole" (Korean)  
> "Herregud…" "Oh my god..." (Swedish)


	5. Chapter 5

"Gah!" Hana Song gasped as she snapped awake, her heart pounding in her ears and her sheets damp with sweat. Her nightmares tonight had been mild by her standards, but they still left her shaken. Grasping her stuffed bunny, she curled up in her bed and forced herself to take deep, measured breaths.  _ It's okay, Hana. Just a dream. That's all. Just a dream. _ It took her a few minutes, but she eventually managed to steady and calm herself enough to get out of bed. She gathered a set of clean clothes--a pair of ripped jeans and a pink "Nerf This!" t-shirt-- and headed for the shower.

As the warm water ran over her body, she felt some of her tension fade away, and she began to think about her day. She wanted to get Brigitte's number, first and foremost, and she resolved to ask her for it at the very first opportunity, no matter what. Secondly, she wanted to show off her mech to Brigitte, which would be easy. Brigitte had already expressed an interest in it, and she'd probably be going to the garage at some point anyways. Lastly, she wanted to get Brigitte to show her the docks. The fact that Brigitte featured prominently in each of her goals was not lost on her, and she was starting to have trouble explaining this without admitting to herself that she had a crush, so she instead decided to just ignore it for now. The "real" reason would come to her eventually.

She finished her shower, got herself dressed, and took some time to do her makeup and make doubly sure she was ready for social interaction. Once she felt physically and emotionally presentable, she headed for the kitchen. There she found the entire crew with the exception of Echo, who had little reason to visit the kitchen aside from socializing. She was greeted by a combination of various "Good morning!"s and waves.

"Morning everyone," she replied. "I wasn't expecting to see all of you here at once!"

"Yeah," Brigitte piped up. "It's rare but once in a while the stars  _ do  _ align!"

"Don't get used to it!" Lena giggled.

There were several open seats at the table, and there wasn't anyone missing who could come in and claim them, but nevertheless Hana set down her phone on the table next to Brigitte in order to claim the spot before pouring herself a bowl of Lúcio-Ohs.

"How come you never told me you liked my cereal?" Lúcio demanded jokingly.

Hana shrugged and shoved a spoonful into her mouth. "Never came up." She sat down next to Brigitte and gave her a smile, which she returned.

"I wasn't expecting you to be up this early," Brigitte said. "I was just about to head over to the workshop!"

Hana steeled herself. This was her chance to offer to exchange numbers. "Well," she said, trying to sound as confident as possible, "Maybe if I had your  _ number _ , I could have asked you to wait up!" She slid her phone over in front of Brigitte, quite aware that she was doing this in front of the  _ entire _ Overwatch team, but fuck it. She'd made a promise, and she wasn't about to miss her  _ third  _ opportunity to get Brigitte's number.

"Oh!" Brigitte blushed. "Yeah, I guess that's true. We don't have each other's numbers yet, do we? Here!" She fished her own phone out of her pocket and handed it to Hana. Picking up Hana's phone, Brigitte punched her name and number in. After a moment's thought, she added a cat emoji next to her name and handed the phone back to Hana.

Hana returned Brigitte's phone as well, and Brigitte saw that Hana had put a bunny emoji next to her own name. "Looks like we both had the same idea!" Hana said with a smile.

"Yeah!"

"So, what are everyone's plans for today?" Hana asked.

"Angela and I are going into town to buy food and supplies," Reinhardt said. "If there is anything you want to make sure we get, I suggest sending one of us a text."

Hana nodded. "Got it."

"Winston and I were planning on running some more tests in the lab!" Mei exclaimed. 

"I'm going to be scouring the news to see where we should go for our next mission," Lena said. "After that, I'll probably be holo-calling Emily."

"I'm gonna be working on my new song," Lúcio said. "I've got a new visualizer that I want to hook up to Genji's lights!"

Genji groaned. "We've been through this. That's not what they're for!"

"Then what  _ are  _ they for, Genji?" Lúcio challenged.

"Angela, help me."

Angela sighed in amusement. "The lights were your idea, Genji. If you still can't explain why you wanted them, it is not my problem."

"Ooh!" Reinhardt exclaimed. "You should hook him up to my Hasselhoff! I bet he'd look amazing!"

"We're not hooking me up to  _ anything _ !" Genji protested.

"I know some good K-Pop if you need more variety!" Hana teased.

"You are all horrible."

Hana finished the rest of her Lúcio-Ohs and stood up. "Mind if I follow you to the garage?" She asked Brigitte. "I still need to let you take a look at Tokki!"

"Sure!" Brigitte replied, standing up and walking out into the hall with Hana. "I can't wait!"

* * *

Back at the kitchen, Angela waited until Hana and Brigitte were safely out of earshot before speaking up. "Those two are spending an  _ awful  _ lot of time together, aren't they?" She asked rhetorically as she took a sip of her coffee. Her usual dry wit prompted chuckles from the others in the room.

"They've certainly become fast 'friends,'" Reinhardt agreed.

Lena laughed. "Yup! Just gals bein' pals, amirite?" She paused a moment, then added, "Twenty quid says Brigitte asks her out first."

Lúcio immediately slammed his wallet down on the table. "Oh you're on!"

* * *

At the garage, Brigitte punched in the code and the door slowly rose open. Hana didn't even wait for it to finish before ducking underneath and rushing in.

"Careful! It's dark in there!" Brigitte called after her.

"I'm fiiine!" Hana called back. Once the door had opened far enough for her to comfortably walk underneath it, Brigitte stepped inside and flipped on the lights. Hana had already reached her mech and was waiting impatiently. "Come on, slowpoke!" She teased.

Brigitte chuckled as she made her way over. "Patience isn't your strong suit, is it?"

"Uh, hellooo? Didn't you say you watched my streams? You should have figured that out by now!"

Brigitte laughed. "Well I'm here now, Kanin. What do you want to show me?"

Hana felt a small blush creep into her cheeks. She liked Brigitte's nickname for her a little more each time she said it. "We'll start with these!" She said, composing herself as she patted one of the barrels of her mechs guns. "Twin Fusion Cannons. They fire 11 shots per round, and a combined total of up to 400 rounds per minute! And, since they draw their power from the reactor core, they never have to reload!"

"They must get incredibly hot!" Brigitte observed.

"I can feel the heat on my hands all the way from the flight sticks," Hana confirmed. "It helps keep me comfortable during cold weather! The triple rotating barrels help spread out the heat so it doesn't damage anything."

"I bet they go through bearings like crazy."

Hana chuckled. "You saw the scorching, didn't you?" Brigitte nodded. "They were supposed to get replaced before I came here," Hana continued, "but we couldn't get the parts in time, so now I have to wait for them to ship them over here."

"I could probably make some for you if you want!" Brigitte offered eagerly.

"I mean, we'll still need to wait for the new parts anyways, since you'll need a clean base, but sure!" Hana gave Brigitte a bright smile. "It'd definitely help with future repairs!"

"Great!" 

"Moving on to the arms," Hana said with a wry smile. "I'm sure I don't need to go over how powerful those are again, do I?"

"Break ribs, mess up spines, throw small people fifteen feet." Brigitte replied. "Yeah I think I got it."

"Are you saying I'm small?!" Hana exclaimed, feigning offense. She poked Brigitte's stomach playfully.

Brigitte laughed. "Well, to me, a lot of people are small!"

"Nice save," Hana winked. "Next up we have the legs! Fully articulating, with electro-gyroscopic stabilization. You couldn't knock this baby over if you tried!"

"Good thing I'm not trying," Brigitte joked. "By the way, what are these for?" She patted one of the canvas bags over the mech's legs. "And why do only the legs have them?"

"Those protect the heating elements," Hana said. "The hydraulics there are the most powerful ones in the entire mech, and they use a special fluid that has to be kept within a certain temperature range!"

"That's pretty cool!" Brigitte said, impressed.

"Actually, they're pretty  _ hot _ ," Hana replied, giving Brigitte a pair of finger guns.

Brigitte groaned and softly thunked her head against the mech's thigh.

"We might as well talk about the armor," Hana said, "since that's what you're leaning on. Half-inch adamantine steel, capable of stopping an RPG dead in its tracks."

"I'm familiar with it," Brigitte said, standing up straight and looking at Hana again. "I worked with it a ton when I was in Ironclad. The crusader armor uses it too. Same thickness and everything. I also use it in my own armor, but only a quarter-inch. Saves on weight."

"That's a relief," Hana said. "I can tighten a bolt, crimp a wire, I can even do some simple welding, but I don't have the skills to keep this armor in shape. I'm glad to know you can though--I mean, if you want to!! No pressure!!" She felt her cheeks growing warm and she silently cursed how awkward she always felt around Brigitte.

"Of course!" Brigitte replied with a smile, once again failing to notice the redness in Hana's face. "Working with you on your mech is a dream come true! Don't worry about me!"

"A-awesome!" Hana reached up and brushed her hair out of her face.

There was a brief moment of silence before Brigitte spoke up. "So, uhm, what else do you want to show me?"

"Oh!" Hana exclaimed, having briefly forgotten what they had been talking about. "Right. This way!" She led Brigitte around to the back of the mech. "This is the escape hatch."

Brigitte crossed her arms. "What's so special about it?"

"During the eject sequence, it uses compressed air to open as quickly as possible. In the event that the doors are damaged and can't open, it has enough force to blow them clear off their hinges."

"Smart."

"With how often I've had to bail from this thing, yeah. It is." Hana made her way around to the side of the mech and reached awkwardly into the cockpit to flip a switch.

"What's that?" Brigitte asked.

"Micro missiles," Hana replied. She scrambled up to the top of the mech and reached down towards Brigitte. "Come on up!"

Brigitte raised an eyebrow. "You think you can lift me?"

"I'm being chivalrous, you nerd." Hana beckoned and Brigitte grabbed her hand and leapt up. " _ Wugh! _ " Hana grunted as Brigitte struggled to find a grip on the mech's smooth surface.

"It's all muscle," Brigitte replied, managing to find a grip.

"That's what they all say!" Hana strained as she finally managed to heave Brigitte up onto the top of the mech. Hana collapsed on her back, panting.

"Wow, out of breath already, Kanin?" Brigitte teased, lying down next to her.

"Just give me a moment." Hana said breathlessly. She looked over to Brigitte just in time to see the bigger girl close her eyes. She looked so peaceful, a soft smile on her lips as her chest gently rose and fell with each breath. Hana found herself wanting to roll over and press herself against her. To rest her head on Brigitte's chest. To feel her strong, sturdy arm wrapped around her waist…

Hana shook herself out of her daydream. "Wake up sleepyhead," she said, gently swatting Brigitte on the shoulder. "I still have more mech to show you!"

“Micro Missiles, right.” Brigitte sat up.

Hana patted the pods that had popped up from the top of the mech's wings. "These babies can fire a volley of 9 missiles each. Dae-Hyun and I drew up the design from scratch!"

"They fit right in," Brigitte complimented.

"Thanks!"

A knot formed in Brigitte's stomach.  _ Wait… Dae-Hyun? Does she have a boyfriend? _ "Who's Dae-Hyun?" She asked, figuring the question was innocent enough.

"He's one of my friends in Korea," Hana replied. "We've known each other since we were kids, and he was my primary mechanic before I came here." After a moment, she added "He's basically like a brother to me." Hana didn't want Brigitte thinking she was taken, but just outright saying she wasn't dating Dae-Hyun without being asked directly would have been weird. She hoped her addition did the trick well enough.

"Ah, I see!" Brigitte replied, relieved.

Hana scooted forwards and pulled Brigitte over with her. "Here's the Defense Matrix targeting computer," she said, indicating a sensor mounted just above the cockpit windshield. "A super advanced threat detection system is able to identify hostile projectiles and shoot them down using bursts of high-energy particles from  _ these _ ." She proudly indicated two round protrusions on either side of the mech's roof. "The Threat Deletion cannons. I also have manual control over these, so I can shoot down anything the computer misses!"

"So you have to keep track of every single projectile that enters your matrix?" Brigitte asked incredulously.

"The computer's pretty good at accurately identifying threats," Hana dismissed. "The manual control is mostly just a fail-safe, and I can count the number of times I've had to actually shoot something down on one hand. Plus, it catalogues any threats it misses and adds them to its database."

"So it has an AI?" Brigitte asked.

"In a broad and archaic sense, yes," Hana said reluctantly. "It's really just simple machine learning. Maybe in the early twenties it might have been considered AI, but it's nothing like what's in an omnic."

"Makes sense," Brigitte said. "So… is there anything else you want to show me?"

"Just one last thing! Hang on--" Hana slid down off of the mech and on to the ground. "Hey, do you have a mag-wrench anywhere?"

"Over by my armor," Brigitte replied, pointing. "In the red toolbox with the cat stickers on it."

"Got it!" Hana returned with the wrench and climbed back on top of the mech. "The reactor core is right in here." She patted the unpainted metal hatch in front of her, before unscrewing the magnetic bolts that held it shut and flipping it open. Inside, the polygonal core floated in its hemispherical chamber, pulsing with a soft orange glow. "This powers the entire machine," she said, setting the mag-wrench down on the top of the mech. "Entirely self-contained, never-ending power. Over here is--" As she leaned over to point, her knee knocked against the wrench and sent it tumbling into the inner workings of the mech. "Jenjang!" She cursed. She bent over and reached into the small gap where the wrench fell.

"You need some help?" Brigitte asked, looking over Hana's shoulder.

"Nah, I got--ugh! It's stuck! Hang on…" She tugged at the wrench until it finally came loose. As she yanked her arm out of the mech, though, she gasped in pain, clutching her forearm and dropping the wrench down onto the floor. "Ow!! Ssibal!!"

"Are you okay?" Brigitte gasped. "Hana?"

"I scraped my arm on a fucking bolt!" Hana hissed through gritted teeth.

"Can I take a look?" Brigitte asked. "I can help!"

"Here." Hana held out her injured arm for Brigitte to look at. Brigitte gently took it in her hands.

"I'm going to need you to move your hand for a second, okay?" She asked softly. Hana nodded and let go of her forearm, revealing a nasty scrape about four inches long. Blood filled the ragged groove in her skin. "Okay," Brigitte said, her voice gentle but confident. "I can patch this up, but I need to get the medkit. Are you okay if I carry you down, or do you think you can get off the mech on your own?"

"You… you can carry me," Hana replied. Immediately she felt Brigitte's arms shift around her and lift her into a bridal carry. The feeling of being held by the larger girl brought about a rush that made Hana almost forget her pain.  _ Damn _ , she wanted this.

Brigitte slid down the side of the mech and carried Hana over to the medkit on the wall of the garage. She gently set the smaller girl down, grabbed the medkit, and began sifting through it. "I'm going to need to wash the wound with alcohol," she said, putting her hand on Hana's shoulder. "It's going to sting, a lot. Are you ready?"

Hana nodded and gave Brigitte a smile. "I've been through a lot worse than this, you know," she said. 

Brigitte returned the smile. "Doesn't hurt to check." She poured some alcohol onto a clean rag and began gently dabbing away the blood. Hana winced. "You're doing great, Kanin," Brigitte assured.

Hana rolled her eyes, but her warm smile and blush broke through her facade.

Once Brigitte finished cleaning the wound she looked it over again. "It's not as bad as I thought," she said. "The skin's only broken in a couple places, so a bandage should be plenty."

"So you're a medic, too?" Hana asked, looking back at Brigitte.

The Swede chuckled, and Hana could have sworn that the sound made her pain fade, just a bit. " _ Someone  _ has to fix Reinhardt up every time he gets himself into trouble," she explained, gently taking Hana's arm and wrapping a bandage around it.

"Well, you're really good," Hana said with a smile.

Brigitte blushed. "Thanks." She finished wrapping Hana's arm and tied off the bandage. "There. Is that better?"

"Much," Hana confirmed. "Thank you, Brigitte." She leaned up and wrapped her arms around the Swede's broad shoulders. Brigitte tensed, and for a moment, Hana thought she might have made the wrong move, but perhaps it was just surprise as the larger girl quickly relaxed and returned the hug, which lasted just a bit longer than it needed to.

"So," Brigitte asked once their bodies finally separated. "Want to help me paint my armor?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:  
> "Ssibal!" - "Fuck!" (Korean)  
> "Jenjang!" - "Dammit!" (Korean)


	6. Chapter 6

"You sure you don't want to join me?" Brigitte asked, pausing her pull-ups and hanging from the bar while she looked at Hana, who was perched on top of a pile of gym mats. The two had finished painting the greave that Brigitte had repaired earlier, enjoyed an animated lunch with Lena and Lúcio, and were now hanging out in the gym while Brigitte _finally_ caught back up on her workout routine.

"I've already told you, I'm not working out on this arm," Hana replied, waving her bandaged arm in the air.

"And _I've_ already told you, we can do squats or sit-ups or something!" Brigitte replied. 

"You already did your sit-ups," Hana protested. "I don't want to mess with your routine!"

"My routine is flexible," Brigitte countered. "And even if it wasn't, we could still do squats!"

Hana simply shook her head. There were two reasons why she was content to sit on top of those gym mats, and she didn't want to admit either of them to Brigitte. The first was that she didn't want to embarrass herself in front of her, and the second? Well, she just really, _really_ enjoyed watching Brigitte working out in a white cropped tank top and a tight pair of shorts.

Brigitte sighed and decided to shoot one last shot. "You know this is pretty much the only time we'll get the gym to ourselves, right?" She asked, returning to her pull-ups. "Reinhardt's in here almost all the time, and Angela is trying to get everyone else to start exercising more, too."

Hana thought for a moment. As much as she enjoyed the view she had right now, this did sound like a rare chance to work out one-on-one with Brigitte, which was also a tempting prospect. "I'll think about it," she said finally.

"Suit yourself." Brigitte dropped down from the bar and let her arms swing loosely. After a moment, she got down on the floor and began doing push-ups. 

Hana watched hungrily, unable to tell whether she'd rather stare at the bulging and rippling of Brigitte's shoulder and arm muscles, or the strong, round profile of her ass. She bit her lower lip. _You may still deny that you have a crush on her,_ she thought to herself, _but at least you've never denied how hot you think she is…_

Brigitte looked up from her push-ups as she heard Hana let out a wistful-sounding sigh. "You okay, Kanin?" She asked.

Her question seemed to startle Hana slightly. "What? Y-yeah, I'm fine. Just… daydreaming…"

"What about?" Brigitte asked, propping herself up with one arm so that she could face Hana directly.

The Korean blushed as she caught a square-on view of Brigitte's abs, tense from the effort of holding her body straight. "Just… stuff… things… you know how it is…" She cursed herself for not having a better answer and decided to change the subject. "So, what got you into exercise?"

Brigitte returned to her push-ups. "Food," she replied. "I love eating. Which doesn't necessarily mean I _have_ to exercise, but I'm also told that nice muscles are a great way to pick up cute women."

Hana's heart fluttered. "You're into girls too?" She asked, barely daring to believe her luck.

"Girls, guys, and everyone in between, above, below, and to either side," Brigitte confirmed. "Though, I definitely lean most towards girls." Her voice was just beginning to sound strained from her workout and sweat glimmered on her skin, and it was starting to make Hana a little hot and bothered. "You?"

"Pretty much the same," Hana said. "Wait, you didn't know? You _have_ to have seen me fawning over Kim from Mecha Guardian on stream!"

Brigitte let out a chuckle that really sounded more like a gasp, and Hana felt a heat wash through her body. "I did," the Swede admitted, "but I didn't want to make any assumptions!" She finished her push-ups and sat down on the floor, breathing heavily, and Hana could have sworn that somebody was messing with the gym's thermostat. "Last chance to join me, Kanin!" Brigitte called over. 

Hana sighed. "Fiiine…" She slid down from her perch and made her way over to Brigitte, who stood up.

"Awesome! Let's do some squats together!" Brigitte planted her feet and put her hands behind her head. "Normally I use weights for this, but I don't think I'll bother today." Hana mirrored her and looked over for confirmation. "Relax, bunny," Brigitte said. "Working out while tense is a great way to get hurt."

Hana hadn't even realized how tense she was. She let out a deep breath and allowed herself to relax. 

"Okay now," Brigitte said. "Slow and steady. One…"

Hana slowly lowered herself down and raised herself back up as Brigitte did the same.  
"Two…"

"Nineteen…"

Hana's legs strained to push her back up. Her breathing was heavy, her skin was slick with sweat, and she felt like she might collapse at any moment.

"You're doing great, Kanin!" Brigitte encouraged. She had abandoned her own squats after seventeen in order to dedicate herself to cheering on Hana. "Just one more! You can do it!"

"Nuh-uh!" Hana gasped. 

"I believe in you!"

Hana slowly lowered herself back down, every fiber in her legs burning from the exertion. Her knees wobbled as she started to raise herself up, but she barely made it halfway before her legs gave out and she collapsed backwards.

"I got you!" Brigitte cried out, lunging forwards and grabbing Hana under the smaller girl's arms before she could hit the ground. 

"I feel like I'm made of jell-o…" Hana groaned. "Everything hurts! My legs, my ass, my pride…"

"You did awesome!" Brigitte replied. "I'm proud of you!" She hoisted Hana to her feet and gently released her, but the Korean's legs started to buckle and Brigitte had to hold her up.

"I'll never stand again!" Hana moaned dramatically.

"Eh, give yourself five minutes," Brigitte dismissed. "Need me to carry you to the showers?"

"I wouldn't mind."

Brigitte scooped Hana up into a bridal carry and began walking to the showers. "You know, for a pro gamer, you're spending an awful lot of time being carried today," Brigitte teased.

"It feels nice to be in my teammates' shoes once in a while," Hana quipped back, producing a breathless laugh from Brigitte.

They arrived at the showers and Brigitte gingerly set Hana down next to her locker. "Aren't you glad I talked you into taking a spare set of clothes?" She asked with a wry smile. 

"Alright, you don't have to rub it in," Hana chuckled as she opened her locker. "Wanna meet back here after we're done?"

"I don't see why not!" Brigitte replied with a smile, before heading off to her own locker.

Hana took a moment to enjoy the view of the Swede's backside as she left, before gathering up her own towel and clothes and heading to the shower, where she took some time to let off some steam.

* * *

"There you are, Hana," Brigitte said, standing up from one of the locker room benches as Hana returned from her shower. "I was starting to wonder if something happened to you!" Brigitte hadn't done up her hair yet, and her long auburn locks hung down around her face and shoulders, still heavy with water. She had changed into a loose yellow tank top and blue jeans.

"I dissociate in the shower a lot," Hana replied. Which was true, though that wasn't what had kept her this time. "Hey, is there any chance you could show me the docks after dinner?" She asked. "Winston forgot when he was giving me my tour."

"Sure!" Brigitte said. "I have an appointment with Angela after dinner, but that shouldn't take too long." She and Hana began to walk back to their rooms. 

"Angela does _appointments_?" Hana asked flatly.

"Well, she does check-ups before and after every mission, but she'll only see you outside of that if you have something else going on medically, or if you ask."

"So what are you seeing her for?" Hana asked, before immediately regretting it. "Sorry, that's a personal question, isn't it?"

Brigitte decided to answer anyways. "I… got shot pretty bad on our last mission. That's why I needed to repair that greave. She patched me up on the spot, but she always checks in a week later just to make sure everything healed the way it should."

"And did it?" Hana asked, the concern clear in her voice.

"I think so," Brigitte said with a smile. "We won't know for sure until she runs the tests, but if there was something wrong I'd probably be able to tell by now."

"What… what _does_ go wrong?"

Brigitte shrugged. "Nothing major. Side effects from the accelerated biotic healing. Bones healing a little weird, strange scarring, that sort of thing. It's extremely rare and not really dangerous, but it's just easier to fix if you catch it early."

"How does the healing work?" Hana was starting to sound more curious than nervous.

"I'm not entirely sure," Brigitte replied. "But it accelerates the natural healing process drastically. Angela usually doesn't use it any more than is necessary, because of the possible side-effects. She'll patch you up enough to keep fighting, but she'll leave your body to heal the rest. That's why she checks in a week after each mission--just to make sure your body finished the job properly."

"Does that mean it'll still scar?"

Brigitte shook her head. "There's a blocker in it that forces the body to construct normal tissue instead of scar tissue. It does mean it heals a bit slower than it could, but the end result is better."

"And Angela invented this?" Hana asked, awestruck.

"She was the head researcher on the team that discovered it, and her work was what made it viable."

"That's so cool!"

They arrived at their hallway and stopped in front of Brigitte's door. 

"Do you… mind if I hang out until dinner?" Hana asked.

Brigitte smiled. "Of course not! It's nice to finally have someone I can hang out with!"

"Great! Let me just drop off my stuff in my room, I'll be right back!"

* * *

Dinner came and went, and Hana found herself outside of Lúcio's room while she waited for Brigitte to finish her checkup. She waited for the sounds of his music to stop between songs, and knocked on the door. "Lúcio?"

"Come in!"

Hana slid the door open. Lúcio was chilling at his desk, and he took his headphones off as Hana walked in and flopped face-down on his bed. "What's up?" He asked.

"I think I have a massive crush on Brigitte…" Hana groaned, her voice muffled by the pillow.

Lúcio laughed. "Congratulations, Hana! You're officially the _second_ -to-last to know!"

"That obvious, huh?" Hana suddenly sat up. "Wait, ' _second_ -to-last?' Who still doesn't…"

"Brigitte," Lúcio snorted.

Hana drooped. "Oh…"

Lúcio sat down next to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Look, Hana. I _really_ think you should tell her--"

"No way!" Hana recoiled at the suggestion. "We've only known each other for three days and she probably doesn't even like me back! That'll just make things awkward!"

Lúcio sighed. As much as he wanted to just tell Hana that Brigitte felt the same way, that wouldn't be right without Brigitte's permission. "Brigitte's not the kinda girl who gets thrown off by that stuff," He said. "Even if she doesn't like you back, nothing bad's gonna happen."

Hana shook her head. "I can't risk that! She's so sweet, and funny, and she really seems to like hanging out with me! Plus, our rooms are right across from each other! If I do something to scare her off, it'll be unbearable!"

"Well it wouldn't hurt to at least flirt with her," Lúcio suggested.

"No!" Hana said, her discomfort causing her to draw out both letters of the word. 

"Well, if you're waiting for her to flirt first, you'll be waiting an awful long time," Lúcio said. "Bri's a sweetheart, but she has the romantic awareness of a brick."

"Or maybe she's just not interested," Hana retorted.

"Hana, you miss every one of the shots you don't take."

"Noted. Next time I play soccer I'll kick for the goal every time I get the ball, no matter how far away I am, or how many people are in my way."

"Yeah, except you're really close, and there's nobody in your way." Lúcio put his hand on Hana's shoulder again. "She wanted to like you before you even met, she _does_ like you now that you have, you two _clearly_ get along well and enjoy your time together, and there's nobody else here Brigitte would be interested in. You're basically right in front of the goal, and the goalie's out to lunch. You got the clearest shot anybody's ever had! All you gotta do, is take it."

At that moment, Hana's phone buzzed with a text from Brigitte.

[Just finished my appointment. You still hanging out with Lúcio?]

[Yeah] Hana texted back. [Want me to wait for you outside?]

[Sure ^_^ Be right there!]

Lúcio waited for Hana to put away her phone. "That Brigitte?" He asked.

"Yeah," Hana replied. "She's coming to show me the docks." She stood up and made her way to the door. "I'll… think about your advice," she said reluctantly.

"I'll be here if you want any more," Lúcio replied with a smile.

* * *

"Hej, Hana!" Brigitte waved as she approached.

Hana looked up from her phone and smiled. "Hey, Brigitte! How'd it go?"

"Great! Angela says there's nothing to worry about!"

"I'm glad!" Hana shifted her weight restlessly. "So, which way are we headed?"

"Follow me!" Brigitte led Hana through to the other side of the hangar and into a side room with some stairs leading up onto an overlook, and another flight leading down into a dip in the pavement that Winston had referred to as "the car wash." They walked down the stairs and came to a door, which Brigitte unlocked with a code. They took an elevator down and emerged in a large cave, facing west. Golden light flooded in from the sunset, gleaming off of the water and bathing the entire cavern in a warm glow. A long dock stretched out towards the sea, littered with old, rusting equipment from Overwatch's heyday, and Brigitte led Hana to the end of it and sat down.

"It's so pretty…" Hana murmured. 

_Not as pretty as you,_ Brigitte wished she could say. "Yeah, it's my favorite place to go this time of day. So quiet and peaceful." She sighed contently. "It's nice to share it with someone for a change."

Hana looked up at her and smiled. "It's nice to have it shared with me."

"I wish I'd brought my bathing suit," Brigitte thought aloud. "The water looks really nice…"

Hana cocked her head. "You like to swim?"

"I _love_ swimming," Brigitte replied. "There's something so… freeing about it."

"Yeah, there is!" Hana agreed. "It feels like flying!"

Brigitte bit her lower lip in thought. "Fuck it," she said, standing up and kicking off her shoes and socks.

"What?" Hana looked up in confusion.

"CANNONBALL!" Brigitte leapt off the dock and curled up in the air, smashing into the water with a massive _Splash!_ that peppered the front of Hana's outfit with water.

"Hey!" Hana exclaimed as Brigitte's head popped up on the surface. "You got me all wet!"

Brigitte laughed. "Might as well come in then, bunny!" She teased. "The water's just as good as it looks!"

"You're crazy!" Hana giggled.

Brigitte swam up and crossed her arms on the dock. "Pleeease?" She asked, looking up at Hana with her best doe eyes.

Hana groaned. _It should be illegal to be that cute._ "Fine, but only since you asked _so_ nicely…" She pulled off her own socks and shoes and set them aside. "Swim clear!" She warned, backing up and taking a running start. She sprinted down the dock, leapt into the air, and did a front-flip before splashing into the water.

"Show-off," Brigitte said, playfully splashing Hana. Her tone feigned disgust but her whole face was smiling.

"You should know that by now," Hana quipped back, splashing Brigitte in retaliation.

"Touché!" 

They floated in amicable silence for a minute before Hana spoke up. "It's kind of random, but I've been wondering. Why do you have a German name if you're Swedish?"

Brigitte chuckled. "Reinhardt saved Papa's life back when they were both in Overwatch. Since Papa promised Reinhardt he could name me, I decided I'd let him help me pick it out!"

"Cool!" Hana said. "Wait-- _you_ decided he could help _you_ pick…" Brigitte could practically see the gears whirring in Hana's head. "Oh! Yeah, I get it now! Sorry, that took me a moment."

Brigitte laughed. "It's okay!" She paused to see if Hana had anything else to say, but the Korean was just smiling warmly. "So… how did _you_ get your name?" Brigitte returned the question.

"'Hana' means 'One' in Korean," Hana answered. "Appa was a pro gamer before I was."

" _I'm number one!_ " Brigitte chirped, raising her pitch to mimic the tone of Hana's celebrity persona.

Hana laughed. "Yep! Destined for greatness!" She leaned back into a backfloat, and it was another moment before she spoke again. "So… what was it like growing up around Overwatch? Must have been cool!"

Brigitte floated on her back next to her. "I… I guess so? I mean, when I was little, everyone thought it was so cool that I was the kid of a famous Overwatch hero. I was basically a celebrity to my classmates until I was fifteen. But… then the Venice Incident happened. Suddenly, people didn't trust Overwatch anymore. Being an Overwatch brat stopped being cool. Nobody wanted to be around me. I wasn't the daughter of a hero anymore--I was the daughter of a criminal. I lost a lot of friends because of that… And that's not even touching on the danger. Mama tried to shelter me from it, but I still knew there was a chance that Papa might not come home some day…" She let out a heavy sigh.

"I… I'm sorry that happened to you," Hana said softly. "And I'm sorry for bringing it up."

"It's okay," Brigitte replied. "It's not your fault." She swam over to the dock and pulled herself out of the water.

"Would you prefer I leave you alone for a bit?" Hana asked, swimming over and crossing her arms on the dock.

Brigitte shook her head. "I'm just not in the mood for swimming anymore." She put her shoes back on and started to wring out her hair. "I'll wait for you here. Take your time!"

Hana climbed up out of the water and sat down next to the larger girl. "I'm not gonna stay in there _alone,_ " she said, looking up at Brigitte affectionately. "There could be sharks! Or crocodiles!"

Brigitte chuckled. "Thank you, Hana," she said, returning her affectionate gaze.

"No sweat," Hana said warmly. She looked down at her drenched clothes and groaned. "Ugh, we should head back and get changed before these get even more uncomfortable." She tried to shake the water off her arms. "Mind if I come back to your place? I still need to get back at you for beating me at Starwhal yesterday!"

Brigitte cocked an eyebrow. "What, didn't have enough punishment last time?" She realized her playful tease may have sounded a bit more sexual than she'd planned.

Hana tried to return a confident smirk, but she could feel a blush burning in her cheeks. "Well, there are many things you still don't know about me, _Lindholm_." At least her voice managed to sound confident.

Now it was Brigitte's turn to blush. Hana had been more receptive than she'd expected. "Last-name basis again, huh, _Song_?"

Hana locked eyes with Brigitte and her lips parted in a sly grin. "Only until I finish kicking your ass."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Appa" - "Dad" (Korean)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, this is an angsty one. Inspired by Lesbianlenaoxton's excellent "Child Soldier," and my own personal love of angst, this chapter dives deep into the darker parts of Hana's mind, and explores the mental trauma she's endured as a defender of her homeland. 
> 
> It's important to note that this chapter is not intended to romanticize PTSD. Caring for a loved one who has suffered intense psychological trauma is difficult and demanding in the real world. If you suffer from PTSD or similar disorders, it is important to seek professional help.

"NO!" Hana's scream echoed off the walls of her room as she thrashed at her sheets, briefly unaware of what was real and what was not. Her heart was pounding and she gasped for breath as she sat up, her entire body clammy with a cold sweat. Slowly, she began to process the room around her, which had been her home for five days now. Almost a week, and yet this was her worst nightmare since she had arrived. Still, her room didn't seem to care. It was exactly the same as she had left it when she went to bed--messy, but familiar. She put her hand to her forehead, as if trying to steady her brain itself, and brushed aside her bangs.

As her other senses returned to her, she became aware of a painful emptiness in her stomach. There was no way she would be able to fall back asleep without having something to eat, first. She slipped on her fluffy bunny slippers and headed outside, not bothering to change out of her pyjamas.

It was pitch-dark and raining heavily, but fortunately the walk to the kitchen was mostly sheltered by the massive rock that the base was built in to, and the rest was inside the hangar itself. Still, the wind managed to whip a few drops against her skin now and then as she started her walk down the hill towards the hangar. Her mind wandered a great deal, still thoroughly shaken by her nightmare, and she only maintained the dimmest awareness of her surroundings. She didn't expect anybody to be up at this time though, so she wasn't concerned with being presentable. The auxiliary lights set into the pavement were the only source of illumination, which meant it was sometime after 2 am. 

A loud explosion caused her to jump, and it was a moment before she realized it was thunder. "It's okay, Hana," she said to herself. "It's just thunder." She took a few more steps before she heard another _BOOM!_ "Just thunder, just thunder!" She felt herself starting to panic and she began to pick up her pace. _BOOM!_ " _Just thunder!_ " 

But it was no use. The world started spinning around her, her heart was pounding once more, and it felt like something was wrapping around her chest, restricting her ability to breathe. Raindrops pounded at her skin. Were they raindrops? Or bullets? They felt like bullets. Water--or was it blood?--ran down her arms and face, and soaked into her hair. **_BOOM!_ **

Her mind raced back to Busan, in the middle of town. Bodies and debris flew through the air as a massive explosion ripped through the building in front of her. Gwishin omnics flew by overhead, the shrill sound of their engines echoing off the buildings surrounding the square. Rockets spiraled across the sky, their trails adding to the smoke that billowed from the dozens of fires that burned around the city, and shrapnel tore through the crowds of screaming people around her. A MEKA drone crashed into the train station, its sensors jammed by the Gwishin's latest adaptation…

Hana pressed herself into a corner and curled up, clutching her head and trying desperately to stay grounded in the real world, to rid her mind of those horrific memories...

* * *

Brigitte lay in her bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling. She had woken up about half an hour earlier, and hadn't been able to fall back asleep. It was one of those nights where her mind just wouldn't stop buzzing. Finally, she decided to take a walk to try and clear her head. She'd heard muffled strikes of thunder, but she wasn't concerned as she put on her slippers. If lightning was going to hit something at Watchpoint Gibraltar, it wasn't going to be her.

As she made her way down the hill, she heard the sound of panicked, gasping breaths and turned to see Hana curled up in a corner, her head tucked down into her arms and her knees pulled up to her chest, shaking. "Hana?" Brigitte asked. But there was no response. "Hana, are you okay?" She knelt down next to the smaller woman, who seemed completely unaware of her presence. "Hana, can you hear me?!" Finally, Hana seemed to realize that Brigitte was there, and Brigitte could see the top of Hana's head move back and forth in what might have been a nod.

"Are you okay?" Brigitte asked. Hana shook her head violently in response. It was obvious, but seeing her admit it so readily was heartbreaking. "Can you speak?" Brigitte asked softly. Another violent shake. 

"Do you recognize me?" 

Hana nodded. 

"Do you know where you are?" 

Hana shook her head and curled up even more tightly, her shaking becoming more pronounced as she began to sob.

"Easy, easy," Brigitte said softly. "You're at the Overwatch base in Gibraltar, in a thunderstorm. That's what all the loud noises are, okay?" Hana managed a nod. "Is it okay if I pick you up?" Brigitte asked. "I want to bring you inside, but I'm not going to do that if you don't want me to touch you."

Hana nodded, and Brigitte gently wrapped her arms around her and picked her up. Hana immediately threw her arms around Brigitte's shoulders and pulled herself close, burying her face in the crook of the larger girl's neck. Another crash of thunder echoed off the walls, and Hana yelped, her feet kicking uncomfortably against Brigitte's thighs as she tried to push herself further into the safety of the Swede's arms.

"Shh, shh, shh," Brigitte whispered gently, tightening her arms around the smaller woman. "It's okay, Kanin. I've got you. You're safe. I won't let anything bad happen to you, okay?" 

Hana nodded, but she continued to sob and shake uncontrollably. She still couldn't tell what was real and what wasn't--except for Brigitte. The gentle cooing of her voice in Hana's ear was the only sound the poor brunette could trust. The warmth of her strong arms holding her close, the only touch. The light scent of cinnamon in her hair, the only smell. She was Hana's only anchor to the real world, and the smaller woman clung to her for dear life.

Brigitte did her best to steady and comfort her poor friend. "I'm going to take you back to your room, okay?" She asked gently. Hana shook her head. "No? So you didn't get whatever you came out here for, did you?"

Hana shook her head.

"Were you… looking for something you lost or forgot?"

Another shake. Brigitte could feel Hana's tears starting to soak into the collar of her top, and she felt the younger woman's gasping, choking breaths blowing raggedly against her neck.

"Were you… hungry?"

Hana nodded.

"Ah, so you were headed to the kitchen for a midnight snack, huh?" Brigitte's voice was gentle and affectionate, as it always seemed to be.

Hana nodded again.

"Shall I bring you there?"

Another nod. 

Thunder struck once more as Brigitte began to walk towards the hangar. Hana whimpered and clutched at the back of Brigitte's pyjama top, her hands bunching up the fabric as her tears continued to flow freely. "Easy, Kanin. Easy," Brigitte cooed. She entered the hangar through the small side door and awkwardly punched in the code to close it behind her, trying her best not to disturb Hana in the process. As the door closed, the sounds of the storm faded, but it did little to help Hana. The storm may have brought her demons out to play, but they seemed happy to stick around without it, and her sobs echoed off the high walls of the hangar as Brigitte carried her to the kitchen.

Hana wasn't heavy--far from it, and normally Brigitte would have had little trouble carrying her, but she was tired, and Hana kept squirming as she tried desperately to find some comfort in Brigitte's embrace. By the time they reached the kitchen, Brigitte's arms ached painfully. "Is it okay if I set you down for--"

Hana wailed and shook her head violently, her arms tightening around Brigitte's shoulders with a strength the Swede hadn't thought her capable of.

"Shh, shh," Brigitte whispered softly, slowly rocking Hana back and forth. "I'm not going to let go of you until you're ready, okay? Jag lovar; I promise." She brought Hana over to the table and sat down, allowing her lap to support Hana, taking the weight off her arms. She gently started stroking Hana's hair, and softly began to sing an old Swedish lullaby that had always helped her on her own rough nights.

" _Jag såg en liten kissemiss som satt och sola sig,_

_Jag såg en liten kissemiss-tänk om han såg mig!_

_Mjau, mjau!_

From the outside, it may have looked like a mother comforting her small child, but this could not be further from the truth. Brigitte was desperate, scared, and out of her depth. She knew panic attacks like this--she'd been through them herself. Hana wasn't a little girl; she was a young adult who'd seen death, destruction, and bloodshed far beyond her years. She'd experienced horrors that could make even the most steadfast adult weep, and, deep inside her, something had broken because of it. She wasn't terrified of thunder; she was terrified of gunfire, of explosions, of _war_. And right now, she couldn't tell the difference. 

Brigitte may have known what Hana was going through, but that didn't mean she knew how to fix it. In truth, she could feel her own demons creeping out of the darkest corners of her mind, and by this point there was usually nothing she could do to prevent them from taking over. But tonight, she beat them back with a ferocity she never knew she had. She _had_ to stay strong. For Hana.

_Har du sett min lilla katt?_

_Har du sett min lilla katt, lilla katt, lilla katt?_

_Den är vit och den är svart, den är vit och svart._

_Mjau, mjau, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, mjau, mjau kiss kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss._ "

To Hana, Brigitte's voice was that of an angel. Soft, sweet, and ever so slightly smokey, she found it deeply soothing, and though she didn't understand a word of the lullaby, by the time Brigitte finished the last verse, Hana's uncontrollable sobbing was reduced to a tearful whimpering. 

"Let's go get you something to eat, okay?" Brigitte asked softly.

Hana nodded in response. 

"Do you know what you want?"

Hana nodded.

"Okay, nod if it's in the fridge or freezer, shake if it's in the cabinet."

Hana shook her head.

"I have to let go of you with one arm to open the cabinet," Brigitte warned. "Nod when you're ready."

After a moment, Hana nodded and Brigitte quickly reached up and opened the cabinet. She heard Hana's whimpering get slightly louder, and felt the smaller woman's arms tighten around her shoulders, but she seemed to recover when Brigitte put her arm back around her. "You're doing great, Kanin."

Brigitte took stock of what was inside the cabinet. "Nod for cereal, shake for noodles."

Hana whined in distress.

"If you don't want either, just pick the one you'd prefer," Brigitte said, gently rubbing her hand up and down Hana's back. "Don't worry, I'm going somewhere with this."

Hana nodded.

"Okay, nod again for cereal, shake for cookies."

Hana nodded again.

"Nod for cereal, shake for chips."

Hana shook her head vigorously.

"You want chips?" Brigitte asked.

Hana nodded definitively. 

"Okay, I have to grab them now. Let me know when you're ready."

Hana still took a moment before nodding, but it wasn't as long as before. Brigitte grabbed the chips and set the bag down on the table before going to the fridge.

"Now we need to pick out a drink," she said. "Are you ready for me to open the fridge?"

Hana nodded, and Brigitte quickly swung the fridge open.

"Nod for soda, shake--"

Hana nodded vigorously.

Brigitte chuckled. "How did I know? Ready for me to grab them now?"

Hana nodded, and Brigitte grabbed a pair of cans from the fridge, pushing the door closed with her butt so that she could put her arm back around Hana, and brought them to the table as well. As Brigitte sat down, she felt Hana stir in her lap and looked down to see the smaller woman pulling away just enough to look up at her.

"Hey there, Kanin," Brigitte said softly. "You feeling better?"

Hana gave a small shrug.

"Still can't speak yet?"

Hana shook her head in confirmation. She reached out and grabbed the bag of chips, keeping one arm wrapped tightly around Brigitte's shoulders the entire time.

"You're going to have trouble opening that with one hand," Brigitte observed. "Want me to help?"

Hana nodded again and held up the bag. Brigitte grabbed the bag as well--also keeping one arm wrapped securely around Hana.

"On three," the Swede said. "One, two, three!" They both pulled and the bag popped open. Brigitte held it up as Hana reached in and grabbed a handful of chips, immediately stuffing them in her mouth. No sooner had she finished swallowing, than she grabbed one of the soda cans, deftly cracking it open with one hand and downing the entire can in one gulp. 

Brigitte gently rubbed Hana's back, keeping a firm hold on her with her arm. Hana's shaking and whimpering had stopped now, but she clearly still needed comfort. "Careful, you're gonna give yourself hiccups," she warned.

Hana shook her head and reached for the second soda can.

"Hey, that one's supposed to be mine!" Brigitte chuckled. Hana seemed visibly disappointed by this. "I can get another one though," Brigitte offered. "You can have this one if you want."

Hana managed the faintest hint of a smile and took the can.

"I can carry you with me if you need me to," Brigitte said, "but my arms are getting really tired. Are you able to wait here? It'll just be a few seconds, and I'm only going to the fridge."

Hana took a long time to think, before nodding hesitantly.

"Thank you, Kanin." Brigitte pulled Hana in for one last tight squeeze, before gently helping her off her lap. As soon as Hana was settled on the bench, Brigitte bolted to the fridge, grabbed a can of soda, returned to the bench, and sat down.

Hana immediately scrambled back into Brigitte's lap and curled up, her arms wrapped tightly around the Swede's broad shoulders. She was shaking again, though it wasn't nearly as bad as before.

"Hey there, Bunny," Brigitte cooed softly, wrapping her arms back around Hana and steadying her. "You're okay. I've got you." Slowly, Hana's shaking settled, though she kept herself pressed firmly against Brigitte's body. "It helps when I hold you, huh?" Brigitte asked, gently tucking a lock of Hana's hair behind her ear.

Hana looked up at her and nodded. "Mm-hmm." It was her first coherent vocalization of the night. Progress.

"If this happens again… is that something you want me to do right away?" 

Hana thought for a moment, then nodded again. "Mm-hmm."

"I'm sorry I wasn't quicker this time," Brigitte said, regret clear in her voice.

Hana shook her head. "Mm-mm."

Brigitte began to slowly stroke Hana's hair again. "Can you tell me what happened?" She asked.

Hana finally managed to force her words out. "I-it isn't u-usually this b-bad," she explained, every word a struggle. "I h-haven't c-completely shut down l-like this i-in over a y-year. Th-this only h-happened b-because I'm in a strange place, a-and I was tired, a-and I just w-woke up from a r-really bad nightm-mare."

"How often does this happen?"

"I-i-it depends. I h-have m-minor flashbacks a-almost every day, b-but those u-usually o-only last a c-c-couple seconds. S-s-sometimes other people don't e-even notice. Th-the bad ones o-only happen o-once or twice a m-month, but a-after a m-mission I'll usually h-have them two or th-three nights i-in a row."

"Oh, Hana!" Brigitte cried out softly, feeling her heart break for her friend. "Have you talked to anyone about this?"

Hana shook her head and sniffed, and Brigitte could see fresh tears starting to run down her cheeks. "Y-you're the only o-one who's ever s-seen a bad o-one," she explained. "Th-they o-o-only happen when I w-wake up from a bad d-dream, so I'm a-always in my r-room for them."

Brigitte reached up and gently cupped Hana's cheek, using her thumb to wipe away Hana's tears as she felt the smaller woman press her face firmly against her hand. "Why haven't you told anyone?" She asked sadly.

"Wha-wh-what are they going t-to tell me that I d-don't a-already know?" Hana asked rhetorically. "It's n-not worth the t-trouble. B-besides, they'd j-just pity me."

"You can always talk to me, Kanin," Brigitte offered. "I know what you're going through--I've gone through it too, and I'm here for you."

"I don't w-want to bring back a-any bad m-memories for you," Hana said quietly.

Brigitte gave Hana a small smile. "I have a lot of people here I can lean on if I need to, Bunny. I can manage if someone else needs to lean on me."

Hana managed to return the smile. "Th-thanks. I know i-it may not look like it, but you can lean o-on me too, if you need." She briefly let go of Brigitte and wiped her face on her sleeve. "I've a-always handled other people's problems better th-than my own."

"I appreciate that, Hana." 

"Once you f-finish your soda, I think I'll be r-ready to go back to my room."

Brigitte smiled and finished her soda, before gathering up the three cans and lobbing them each into the recycling bin.

"Y-you're a good shot," Hana said.

"Thanks," Brigitte replied. "Turns out all my whip shot practice comes in handy in other ways, too!" She rolled up the bag of chips. "Okay, I need to put this away."

Hana climbed off of Brigitte's lap, and walked with her to the cabinet, where Brigitte sealed the bag of chips with a clip and put it away. 

"Do you want me to carry you back?" Brigitte asked.

"I… I think I'll be okay," Hana replied hesitantly.

"You sure?"

"I don't want you to hurt y-yourself…"

"As long as you support some of your own weight and don't squirm too much, I should be fine," Brigitte said. "Don't worry about me."

"'Sh-should' be fine?"

" _Will_ be fine." Brigitte was adamant. "Will carrying you help at _all_?"

"I mean… y-yeah," Hana admitted.

"Then shut up and hop up, Lilla Kanin," Brigitte said. 

Hana reached up and wrapped her arms around the back of Brigitte's neck, jumping up as Brigitte bent down and put her arms around her. Even with Hana's help though, Brigitte let out a strained grunt. Carrying Hana was taking a lot more effort than usual, and Hana could tell.

"If it gets to be too m-much, put me down," Hana said.

"I'll keep that in mind," Brigitte said, trying to hide the strain in her voice.

"If you drop me I'm gonna be upset."

"I'm not gonna drop you!" Brigitte dismissed the idea as if it was silly, but as Hana rested her head against Brigitte's chest, she could feel the Swede's heavy breathing and hear her thumping heartbeat. Brigitte stopped as she arrived at the door she had closed earlier. "I need to put in the code."

"Yeah?"

"I… uh… I need you to hold yourself up," Brigitte admitted.

"O-or you could just put me down," Hana offered. There was no gloating in her tone, no triumphant 'I told you so,' only a soft concern.

"Or you could let me do something nice for you, Kanin," Brigitte replied gently.

"You've a-already done more than enough," Hana said quietly, though she pulled herself up and wrapped her legs around Brigitte's waist anyways, allowing the larger girl's hips to take some of her weight. Brigitte punched in the code and put her arm back around Hana as they headed outside.

Thunder struck once more as they began their walk up the hill, causing Hana to flinch again, though it was subtle enough that Brigitte might not have even noticed had Hana not been literally wrapped around her.

"Is thunder always a trigger for you?" Brigitte asked.

"I-it's not enough to do anything to me on it's own," Hana explained. "But if I'm already shaken up, i-it does make it worse."

"Is there anything else I should know about?"

Hana shook her head. "The o-only actual triggers I have now are my own nightmares… anything else can only get me when I'm already spooked. Even combat doesn't do anything to me in the moment--it just fucks up my dreams for a few days."

"The nightmares are always even worse than reality already is, aren't they?"

"You don't even want to know…" Hana said solemnly.

They arrived at Hana's room and Brigitte set the Korean down gently in her bed.

"Is there anything else you need from me, Bunny?" She asked.

"I… I…" Hana's words caught in her throat as her nerves flared up.

Brigitte kneeled down next to the bed so that she was at eye level with her. "Whatever you need, Kanin, just say it," she said softly.

"I… don't want to be alone tonight," Hana admitted, almost inaudibly.

"You want me to stay over?" Brigitte asked.

Hana nodded, clutching her pillow.

Brigitte gently put a hand on Hana's shoulder. "Do you want me to take the other bed, or do you want me to share yours?" 

"Can… can you share mine?"

"Of course." Brigitte began to climb into Hana's bed. "Scooch, Lilla Kanin. I take up a lot of space."

Hana moved aside to allow Brigitte to settle in, before snuggling back up until their bodies pressed firmly together. She hesitantly wrapped her arm around Brigitte's waist, her heartbeat calming as she felt Brigitte's arm wrap around her own shoulders.

"Thank you, Brigitte," she murmured as she closed her eyes.

"Always, Hana."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Brigitte sings is a Swedish lullaby that, according to Google, translates to "I saw a little pussycat sitting and sunbathing, I saw a little pussycat think if he saw me! Meow, meow! Have you seen my little cat? Have you seen my little cat, little cat, little cat? It is white and it is black, it is white and black. Meow, meow, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, meow, meow kiss kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss."
> 
> "Lilla Kanin" - "Little Bunny" (Swedish)
> 
> Note: Next chapter is going to be a week or two late, life's been busy :(


	8. Chapter 8

Brigitte awoke from pleasant dreams of strawberry fields to find herself greeted with a faceful of brown, fruity-scented hair. Evidently Hana had rolled over at some point during the night. The entire room was lit with a gentle golden hue from the artificial lighting mimicking the early sunrise outside. Brigitte's left arm was draped around Hana's waist, and her hand rested on the smaller woman's stomach, Hana's own left hand lazily holding it there. Brigitte extracted her right arm from under the pillow, carefully trying not to rouse Hana, and arranged the brunette's hair so that it was out of her face. Hana sighed and stirred ever so slightly, the curve of her butt pressing against the scoop of Brigitte's hips, but she remained asleep.

_She looks so peaceful…_ Brigitte thought. She could feel Hana's stomach slowly rise and fall under her hand with each breath. She still didn't know if her feelings for Hana were mutual, and she was afraid to ask her out until she did, but as she affectionately rubbed Hana's stomach with her thumb--the only part of her hand she could move without disturbing the smaller woman-- she began to wonder if maybe, just maybe, mornings like this could make it worth the risk.

After a few minutes, Hana stirred again, rolling over to face Brigitte as her eyes lazily fluttered open.

"Morning, Kanin," Brigitte murmured with a warm smile.

"Morning, Brig," Hana mumbled back affectionately. "...I _am_ awake, right?"

Brigitte chuckled softly. "Yes, Kanin, you're awake."

"Good." Hana snuggled up against Brigitte, closing her eyes and tucking her head against Brigitte's chest as she wrapped her arm snugly around her waist.

"Did you sleep well?" Brigitte asked, affectionately rubbing Hana's back.

Hana let out an adorable yawn. "Better than I have in months," she murmured. "Thank you."

"You know, if you ever need some company to get through the night, you can always come over to my room and snuggle up," Brigitte offered. "You know the code to get in."

Hana looked up at Brigitte. "If you're suggesting I come over every time I'm having a rough night, then I'm going to be over a lot," she warned.

"Hana, you could be over _every_ night and I wouldn't mind," Brigitte said warmly. "I'm a cuddler, and Sir Fluff may be the best stuffed animal in the world, but he's no match for a real person. I'll enjoy the company just as much as you."

Hana sighed and pressed her head against Brigitte's chest. "Maybe I'll take you up on that "every night" offer, then." 

Brigitte felt her cheeks grow warm. Could Hana actually be flirting with her? She felt her heartbeat fluttering, and quietly hoped that Hana didn't notice.

Hana did, in fact, notice--her ear was resting almost directly over Brigitte's heart--but she didn't have the courage to call Brigitte out on it yet. Instead, she simply made a mental note that maybe, _maybe_ , there was a chance that Brigitte might have a passing interest in her, after all. As unlikely as it was, the thought made her profoundly happy.

"Are you going to fall back asleep?" Brigitte asked softly.

"Prolly not," Hana murmured. "Just not ready to get up yet."

"I'm not used to seeing you this mellow," Brigitte commented as she began to gently rub Hana's back again. "It's nice."

"Normally when I wake up it's from some sort of nightmare," Hana replied. "It's nice to have actually pleasant dreams for once… Thanks again for staying with me."

"Anytime, Hana. I mean that. I'm just glad I could help."

Hana shifted against Brigitte, settling into a slightly more comfortable position. "You know," she said lazily, "You make a really nice pillow."

Brigitte let out a low chuckle. "Thanks, I guess?"

"Seriously," Hana hummed. "You're big, and strong, and cozy…" She snuggled up even closer, her entire body now pressing firmly against Brigitte's. "And safe," she added softly.

Brigitte leaned her head gently against Hana's, giving the smaller woman a strong squeeze around her waist. "I'm glad you feel that way, Kanin."

"Ever since we met, you've been nothing but kind and understanding towards me," Hana explained. "Everyone here's been sweet, but you? By the time you left my room on my very first night here, I felt like I'd already made a real friend. And last night… when you found me, I was the most vulnerable I've felt in a very long time, and you saw that. And even though I couldn't even speak, you still gave me the dignity of being in charge. You never made me feel like I wasn't in control, or like I was weak for needing help so desperately. I… I really can't express how much that means to me. But I wish I could."

"Hana, please," Brigitte said softly, giving the Korean yet another tight squeeze. "You're going to make me cry."

"I'm sorry, Brig," Hana said, giving the Swede a comforting squeeze in return. "I had to say it."

"Well," Brigitte murmured, "while we're being mushy, I might as well mention how happy I am to have you as a friend. Gibraltar was getting _really_ lonely before you showed up. Lena's a sweetheart, but she's busy helping Winston run Overwatch, and she spends most of her free time holo-calling Emily. Lúcio made his own tech, but he's no grease monkey. And Genji may like video games, but he's too busy being _heterosexual_ with Angela for me to hang out with him. I've been watching your streams for a long time now, and I always thought of you as this confident, aloof person who acted like she was better than everyone else--and had the skills to back it up. And I liked that. But when I first saw you in this room, and realized we were going to be teammates… I was intimidated. I mean, how could you, a world-famous esports champion and war hero, want _anything_ to do with me, a babysitter for a giant suicidal Zoomer who was forced out of a disgraced organization that was shut down by the very people they were trying to protect? But then we started talking, and I found out that you're super kind, and thoughtful, and smart… and it turns out I like that even more. Geeking out with you over video games and your mech is the most fun I've had in a long, long time."

"I'm… glad I've been able to help you a bit, too," Hana said softly. The two lay snuggled together in affectionate silence for several minutes before Brigitte finally spoke up once more.

"As much as I like this, I'm getting hungry. You gonna be ready for breakfast soon?"

"Yeah." Hana reluctantly let go of Brigitte and scooched away to give her some space. "You're gonna have to get out first."

Brigitte pushed aside the covers and swung her legs out of the bed, her feet landing on the hard tile floor. "I need to shower and get dressed," she said as she stood up. "I'll see you in the kitchen?"

"I need to do both of those things too, you know," Hana replied, sitting up. "We can walk together if you don't mind company."

Brigitte responded with a warm smile. "Sure!"

* * *

Brigitte and Hana entered the kitchen to find Angela sitting alone, drinking coffee.

"Morning, Ange!" Brigitte chirped.

Angela looked up from her coffee and a small smile touched her lips. "You're up late," she observed, before turning her attention towards Hana. "And _you're_ up _early_. And looking quite well-rested, if I may add."

"I guess I'm finally starting to get used to this place," Hana lied. Angela seemed unconvinced, but she didn't press further.

"Where are the others?" Brigitte asked, grabbing a trio of bagels from the cabinet and loading the first one into the toaster as Hana poured herself a bowl of Lúcio-ohs.

Angela took a sip of her coffee. "Getting a headstart on training," she replied. "We have a mission tomorrow. Which reminds me, Brigitte, Winston is holding a meeting in the briefing room at noon. Make sure you are not late."

"What about me?" Hana asked. "Should I go too?"

Angela sighed and took another sip of her coffee. "You can if you want ti, but I'm afraid there isn't much point. We still don't have clearance from MEKA to involve you in field work."

Hana looked visibly deflated.

"Winston tried to convince them to let you come with us," Angela continued, "but unfortunately the best we could get was a promise that you could come along next time, if this mission goes well. I'm sorry, liebling. If it were up to us, you'd be more than welcome to pitch in."

Hana sighed and sat down at the table, poking half-heartedly at her cereal. Brigitte finished toasting her bagels, hastily covered them in cream cheese, and sat down next to the Korean.

Angela finished her coffee and stood up. "I'd best be joining the others." She gave Hana's shoulder a gentle touch as she walked behind her. "If you need to talk to anyone, my door is always open," she offered, before leaving Hana and Brigitte to themselves. 

Brigitte gently put her hand on Hana's back, and the smaller woman promptly leaned into her shoulder, scooching over slightly so that their thighs touched. Brigitte slid her arm the rest of the way around Hana's shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"You okay, Hana?" She asked.

"It's a relative term," Hana replied with a sigh. She poked at her cereal again before halfheartedly eating a spoonful. "Just a little bummed."

"I can imagine," Brigitte sympathised, giving Hana's shoulder an affectionate rub.

There was a lull in the conversation as Hana ate a few more spoonfuls of her cereal. Eventually she asked, "How long do these missions usually last?"

Brigitte shrugged. "The only actual mission I was a part of was Rio last month," she explained. "I was in Paris too, but Reinhardt and I just sort of… showed up for that. But for Rio, we were away from the base for a little under two days. We won't know about this one for sure until Winston's briefing, and even then it could be longer or shorter depending on how much trouble we run into."

"You'll… text me so I know you're okay, right?"

Brigitte sighed and looked sadly down at the table. "I… I can't. Once we leave the Watchpoint, it's mission-critical comms only until we get back. Anything else is liable to get intercepted. I'm sorry, Bunny. You're just going to have to trust me to get home safe."

Hana sighed and glared at her cereal. "I don't say this to anyone," she said bitterly, "but I _hate_ being in MEKA sometimes. It feels like I just signed away my life to them. We can't do _anything_ without their permission--we can't stream, we can't leave the base… they don't even like us _dating_ without their permission! Not that that's stopped anyone." Hana's agitation continued to build as she spoke, and Brigitte cautiously took her hand off of her shoulder, unsure if touching Hana was wise right now. "Everyone in the squad's doubled up at this point except for me and Dae-Hyun," Hana continued, "and he's ace as fuck so at least he has an excuse! I've _tried_ to date people, _sure,_ but I've yet to find a half-decent person who has any interest in a girlfriend who might one day come home in a fucking bodybag!! And now, they won't even let me go out on a mission to help protect my friends! Because guess what? I wasn't _authorized_ to make friends here! I didn't have _permission_ to care about any of you! My only mission was to talk you guys into helping MEKA fight the Gwishin! I _know_ it's for a good cause, but… fuck! Can't a girl just be selfish for _once_ in her life??" Tears of frustration were welling up in Hana's eyes, but she seemed to be holding herself together well enough.

"That sounds… really rough," Brigitte said quietly. Comforting sad people, she was good at. But angry people were a whole different beast. "I'm sorry. I… can't say I know how that feels, but I can imagine how horrible I'd feel if Overwatch put those kinds of restrictions on me…"

"Yeah. It fucking sucks." Hana's tone remained razor sharp, but she'd managed to get her volume under control again. "And I never get to vent about it to anyone, either. Everyone in Korea idolizes MEKA, and why shouldn't they? We're the last line of defense from the Gwishin. Without us, millions of people would already be dead. Next to that, none of my problems matter. At all. Except they _do_ matter, to _me_ . Because they're _my_ problems."

Hesitantly, Brigitte put her hand back on Hana's shoulder, and the smaller woman sighed, leaning against her again. "Just because you're doing a good thing, doesn't mean it can't be hard," the Swede said softly. "In fact, good things are _usually_ hard. And it's dumb that people think heroes can't have struggles, too. You've had to endure things that _nobody_ should have to go through, and you have every right to be bitter about that. You may be fighting the good fight, but that doesn't make your problems any less real. You have the weight of an entire country on your shoulders. In a way, the problems of _all_ those people are yours as well."

"It doesn't feel right to equate my problems to theirs," Hana muttered.

"How so?" Brigitte countered. "What do they stand to lose that you don't? Their friends? Their families? Their homes? Their lives? All of those are on the line for you, too. And not only that, but you _chose_ to put your life on the line. And you willfully put it ahead of everyone else's. You've agreed to pay the ultimate price for your country, and your people--if it comes to that. Expecting to be treated with a bit of dignity in return isn't selfish."

Hana sighed, her anger seeming to dissipate. "Yeah well, it's not like there's anything I can do about it anyways…"

Brigitte gave Hana's shoulder a comforting rub. "Just remember, this isn't going to last forever. We _will_ fight the Gwishin, we _will_ defeat it, and you _will_ be free to do whatever you want with your life after that. As long as you keep in touch with me, of course." She added with a subtle wink.

Hana looked up at the larger woman and gave her an appreciative smile. "Don't worry," she said, "I like having you around too much."

Brigitte felt her heart flutter. "I should be going to the training range," she said. "You're welcome to tag along if you want--after all, I like having you around too!"

* * *

The training range was set completely inside the mountain, and consisted of a small lobby area, a small shooting range, and a collection of machines that looked almost like early-'20s MRIs. Reinhardt, Lúcio, and Lena each stood next to one, and Winston, Mei, and Genji were each in one of those machines. As Brigitte and Hana walked in, they saw Genji slide out of his machine and sit up. Lena patted him on the shoulder and looked up to greet the new arrivals.

"'Ello, luvs!" She said cheerfully. "Genji just finished his session, so Brig, you can go right on in. He'll spot you, as usual. I'll show Hana here the ropes!" Brigitte nodded and gave Hana a pat on the shoulder before going over to the machine Genji had been in and sliding herself in.

Lena led Hana over to one of the unused machines. "Are you familiar with what these are?" She asked.

"Simulated reality training," Hana replied confidently. "A two-way interface between my brain and the computer allows me to control myself in the simulation exactly how I would in the real world, while the computer blocks the signals to my real muscles so that I don't hurt myself. I use them all the time in MEKA."

Lena giggled. "Wonderful! My job just got way easier! Wanna take a spin?"

"Sure!" Hana replied instinctively. A part of her knew it was unwise; simulated reality training was intense--almost indistinguishable from real combat--and it had the same effects on her nightmares. But she had done this many times before, and she would have to do it many times again, and she was never one to back away from anything.

"Here's your earpiece, luv!" Lena handed her a small bud that Hana fit into her left ear. "I'll be talking through it to help guide you through the mission, and to provide you with sparkling conversation! And remember, as much as what's about to happen may _seem_ real, it's just a simulation," she added as Hana slid herself into the machine. "Nobody's in any danger, and once you're back in the real world it'll be like nothing ever happened."

Hana snorted. "That's not what they tell us at MEKA. They do everything they can to hype us up and get us to think it's all really happening. Makes for 'better results,' they say."

The distaste in Lena's voice was clear when she responded. "Well, it would seem that we place different prices on the value of mental health."

"Was Overwatch always so considerate?"

"No."

Hana felt the world around her fade away, as it was replaced by the opening area of the simulation. She was laying at the controls of her mech, perfectly rendered in her mind's eye via the computer driving the simulation. Around her, a generic-looking city was crumbling and burning. Gunfire and screaming could be heard in the distance. "I see MEKA gave you the plugin for Tokki," Hana commented.

"That, and a set of detailed instructions on how to go about training you," Lena replied. "Which we will be ignoring in their entirety, since their methods are morally questionable at best, and liable to contribute towards serious psychological trauma at worst."

"I won't tell anyone if you don't."

"Excellent. In this level, there's a warehouse somewhere in the city with a whole bunch of baddies in it. Your job is to figure out where it is, get inside, and clear it out. Simple enough, right?"

"Right." D.Va pushed forward on her flight sticks, and Tokki began to walk forwards.

"So are you still liking it here at Gibraltar?" Tracer asked casually.

"It's nice!" D.Va replied. "It's definitely a lot different from Busan and MEKA, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's worse. Especially now that I'm starting to get used to it."

"You like our motley crew?"

"Everyone here's really nice! They really make me feel like I'm part of a family!" D.Va rounded a corner onto what looked like it was once a main road. Massive, crumbling buildings and ransacked shops lined either side of the wide street, which seemed completely deserted and utterly static, save for the flickering of some scattered fires.

"One in particular seems to have caught your eye," Tracer prodded.

D.Va glanced around the street, momentarily confused as to what Tracer was referring to. "What? ...Oh, you're talking about Brigitte, aren't you?"

"Mm-hmm!"

D.Va sighed. "Yeah, Lúcio told me that you all caught on to that pretty quickly."

"I'm honestly rather surprised _she_ hasn't figured it out yet. Bloody hell do I love her, but that girl's a useless gay if I've ever seen one."

"It definitely makes it tough for me to tell if she likes me back," D.Va admitted.

"You two are gonna drive me to drink…"

"What do you--"

Suddenly, something ricocheted off the thick armor plating of Tokki's hull, and the unmistakable _CRACK_ of a sniper rifle rang out, echoing up and down the street. D.Va instantly snapped into combat mode, whipping around to face the direction the attack came from and scanning the buildings for any signs of activity. "Sniper!" She barked out instinctively. "Don't get caught!" She spotted the telltale glare of a sniper scope several stories up in a dilapidated skyscraper, peeking out of a large hole that had been blown in the building's corner, and she jammed her flight sticks forward and took off. As she approached, she hit a button on her joysticks and the teal holograms indicating the boundaries of her defense matrix appeared in front of her. Another shot rang out, but the bullet disappeared in a small burst of sparks as a high energy particle from the defense matrix destroyed it. She saw the figure in the building duck behind the wall, and as she alit on the decaying floor where the sniper had been, she quickly surveyed the area.

She seemed to be in some sort of office building. Desks and cheap swivel chairs lay strewn about the room, papers littered the floor, and a large holo-board hung from the back wall at an awkward angle. The sniper was nowhere to be found, and the only exit was a door in the left wall. "It's too small in here for me to follow in my mech," she said. "I'll have to continue on foot."

She grabbed her bunny blaster from its holster at the top of the mech's cockpit and slid out the escape hatch, landing lightly on her feet on the thin carpet. She quietly made her way to the open door and out into a long hallway that seemed to run the length of the building. She quickly scanned up and down the hallway for any signs of the sniper, and saw an open door about halfway down. The carpeted floor made it easy for her to move silently, and she kept every sense peeled and focused for any signs of movement. She wasn't interested in taking a bullet today.

She reached the door and stepped into the room, immediately checking to either side for the sniper. A flash of movement to her right caught her eye and she dodged to her left, barely avoiding the sniper's attempt to grapple her. She took aim with the bunny blaster and fired three shots at the sniper's leg, causing him to yell out in pain and drop to the floor. He reached behind his back and pulled out a small pistol, but D.Va fired another shot into his hand, knocking the sidearm away.

"Where is your group located?" D.Va demanded, aiming her blaster at the sniper's head.   
"What makes you think I'd tell _you_?" The man sneered from underneath his helmet.

D.Va sighed. Of course it wasn't going to be that easy. But before she could think of a response, the man lunged towards his sidearm with his good leg, and grabbed it in his off-hand. Instinctively, D.Va unloaded a burst of hard-light bullets into the man's body, and he slumped to the ground, lifeless.

"Nice shooting, luv."

D.Va jumped at Tracer's voice in her earpiece--she'd completely lost herself in the simulation. "Where were you that whole time?" She asked sharply.

"Trying not to distract you," Tracer replied. "So, what's your plan for moving forward?"

D.Va looked around the room. "Well, this looks like an office building, so maybe there's a map somewhere?" she thought aloud. "Or maybe there's some files somewhere that talk about business locations in the city?"

"Right. Oooor, you could look out the window."

D.Va put her hand to her forehead. "Mullon-iya. I can probably see the whole city from up here." She made her way to the window and peered out. "Dammit, everything's so far away. Hang on." She looked around the room and found the sniper's rifle propped up against the wall beside the door. She grabbed it and turned the safety on, before going back to the window. She slid it open and stuck the barrel of the rifle out, looking through the scope to get a better look at the city. "Alright, it looks like there's a warehouse to the--" She glanced at the sun, then at her watch. "To the northeast, by the docks. But it looks like it's in pretty rough shape." She continued to scan the city for a few more moments. "That's more like it! There's a small warehouse a couple miles due east of here that looks heavily defended. I can see some turrets on the roof. My bet's on that one being our target."

"Nice work! Now grab your mech and get over there!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mullon-iya - "Of course" (Korean)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to try my hand at some combat scenes. Don't worry, the next chapter will have plenty of fluffy MekaMechanic interactions :)

"So what was it about Brigitte that caught your eye?" Tracer's voice chirped through D.Va's earbud as the MEKA pilot cruised towards the warehouse, flying well above the violent skirmishes in the city below. "Was it the freckles? It was the freckles, wasn't it?"

D.Va chuckled. "Why are you so interested?" She asked suspiciously.

"As Overwatch's most famous--and most  _ successful _ \--lesbian, I fancy myself a bit of a match-maker. At least when it comes to the ladies." Tracer thought for a moment. "I could tell her you like her, if it makes it easier for you," she offered.

"Thanks, but no thanks," D.Va replied. "This is something I have to do myself. And for the record, I noticed her muscles first. Her freckles  _ are  _ really cute, though."

"I knew it," Tracer said smugly.

D.Va cruised in silence for a moment before asking, "You and Brig are close, right?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Do you… do you know if she  _ does _ like me?"

Tracer sighed. "Supposing I did, it wouldn't be right for me to tell you without her permission. Besides, I thought this was something you wanted to do 'yourself.'"

"Smartass." D.Va muttered.

"It's in my contract, luv. But what I  _ will  _ say, is that she  _ never  _ spent so much of her time with just one person before you showed up. Ever since you moved in, you're all she's able to talk about. And she may be one of the cuddliest people I've ever met, but she's on another level entirely when it comes to you."

"That could mean anything though…" D.Va protested.

"Oh my  _ god _ ."

"Anyways," D.Va said, changing the subject, "I'm approaching the warehouse. I should be paying attention to the mission."

"Copy that."

But as D.Va continued to fly towards the warehouse, she found that her mind kept drifting back to Brigitte.  _ What  _ would  _ it be like to date her? No, Hana. Focus… I wonder what her lips taste like? Is she a good kisser?... Focus on the mission!!... Is she good in bed? Is she a dom or a sub? I feel like she'd like both. I hope she likes both… Dammit, Hana! What's wrong with you? Focus! _

D.Va was so busy telling herself to pay attention, that she completely forgot to actually do that, and she nearly failed to notice the salvo of rockets heading her way from the warehouse's automated defenses. "Shit!" She activated her defense matrix, but her last-second reaction failed to block all of the rockets, and several slammed into Tokki's left wing, damaging the flight controls and knocking out one of the boosters. "Dammit! I'm hit!"

"Can you land safely?"

"I can  _ try! _ " D.Va wrestled with the flight sticks, fighting to keep her wounded mech stable. Warning lights flashed on her HUD as the ground approached with concerning speed. She managed to gain enough control to aim the mech towards an empty square about a block down from the warehouse and reign in her descent to a survivable speed. She flared Tokki's nose to get its feet underneath it, and braced for impact.

As the mech landed heavily on its feet, D.Va heard a loud  _ bang _ from its right leg, and a red marker appeared on the mech's readout. "Looks like I blew a hydraulic line on the landing," she observed. "I can still walk, but not well." 

"The hangar's about a block north of you," Tracer replied. "Be careful when you approach it."

"Duh." D.Va pushed her flight sticks forward and Tokki began to limp up the road towards the hangar. This area of the city was still deserted, but it was in much better shape than the area she had been in earlier. Windows were still broken and/or boarded up, cracks ran up the sides of the buildings, and a door or two hung off their hinges, but all told it was more akin to a ghost town than a war zone. Evidently the gang that had set up shop in the warehouse had little interest in wrecking  _ their  _ part of the neighborhood.

D.Va rounded a corner and found herself in an open area about 100 feet from the front of the warehouse. A heavy steel garage door blocked the entrance, and three automated turrets stood guard. They noticed her immediately, and sent a flurry of rockets spiraling towards her.

"I'm gonna have to shoot you down!" D.Va quipped, activating her defense matrix and marching forward. The rockets exploded as they entered its range, and thick black smoke filled the air between her and the turrets, completely blocking her from their sight. However, D.Va had noted their positions in the brief moment she'd been able to see them, and she took advantage of the smoke screen to return fire with her fusion cannons and a volley of micro missiles, first taking aim at the turret on the right. Though she couldn't see the turret to tell when it was destroyed, she heard a small explosion from its general direction and shifted her aim towards the middle turret. By the time she destroyed that one, the smoke had cleared just enough for her to see it go up in flames. She also saw the garage door open and several armed enemies run outside, shouting.

"What's going on?"

"Shoot the mech!"

Bullets clattered against Tokki's thick armor plating as the enemies opened fire, but D.Va continued to march forward, activating her defense matrix once more as the remaining turret launched another volley of rockets towards her. As the rockets exploded in front of her, shrapnel flew every which way. The defense matrix shot down any bits headed towards the mech, but the rest flew out and back, tearing through the enemies unfortunate enough to be near the blast. D.Va marched through the smoke to see all but three of the enemies lying on the ground, dead or incapacitated. "Eomeo!" She gasped with feigned shock. "Anmian!"

A point blank blast from the fusion cannons sent the first enemy sprawling, and D.Va tracked her fire across the second enemy, quickly mowing him down as well. The last enemy charged at her, but she swatted him aside with a powerful strike from the mech's arm, and the blow sent him flying. He landed on his back, and as he struggled to stand, D.Va finished him off with her fusion cannons. With the last of the enemies outside defeated, she pushed forward and entered the warehouse. 

The warehouse itself was decently sized, about 300 feet by 200 feet, with a pair of hanging catwalks running along its length--one on either side. Dozens of crates and boxes were scattered around the floor in a manner that reminded D.Va of retro cover shooters like Uncharted or Gears of War. There was also a large, heavy-duty forklift about 15 feet to her left. Well over a dozen enemies patrolled the warehouse, and D.Va's intrusion did not go unnoticed.

"There! In the mech!"

"Light her up!"

The garage door dropped shut behind her and muzzle flashes sparkled from all around the warehouse like fireworks, and D.Va was forced to duck behind the forklift while she assessed the situation. Aside from the damage to its booster and leg, Tokki was actually still in pretty good shape. She decided on a direct approach. Stepping out from behind the forklift, she opened fire with her fusion cannons, sending several of the closest enemies scattering. She marched forwards, her flight sticks bucking against her grip as the mech struggled to keep itself stable against the recoil. Flashes of gunfire drew her eye to the catwalk to her left, and she aimed up, spraying the metal scaffolding with pellets as the enemies above her returned fire. She continued to push forward, strafing the catwalk and downing four enemies by the time she reached the other end of the warehouse. Tokki had taken a few hits on the way, and the readout had shifted from green to yellow, but the mech was still very much alive and kicking.

She whipped around to her right to check her flank, just in time to see a heavily armored man approaching with a shotgun. D.Va flashed her defense matrix as the man opened fire, obliterating the pellets in midair. Then she wound up her mech's left arm and drove it forward with a mighty punch, sending the man crashing through a row of crates.

A burst of red appeared on the right side of her hud, and she turned to see a group of four enemies firing at her from back at the entrance. They must have flanked her while she wasn't paying attention. They were much too far away for her cannons to be of any use, but they seemed to be the only enemies left alive. D.Va heard a groaning from her left and turned to fire a pair of rounds from her fusion cannons into the armored man, who had been stubbornly standing up from the pile of crates he'd just been sent through, before she turned back to face the entrance to the warehouse and jammed her flight sticks forward.

Tokki's engines roared to life, and the pink mech shot forwards. The damaged engine caused it to pull hard to the left, but D.Va expertly countered this by repeatedly kicking off with Tokki's left leg to push the mech back to the right. She ignored the bullets clattering against Tokki's hull and smashing into the windshield ahead of her as she bunny-hopped across the warehouse, and chose to blast away with her fusion cannons instead, throwing in a volley of micro missiles as well for good measure. As her readout shifted from yellow to red, she spotted a flash of metal arcing towards her, and she flashed her defense matrix to catch it, the grenade exploding harmlessly in front of her. She burst through the smoke, barreling into two of the enemies and sending them sprawling.

The other two enemies had managed to dodge out of the way, and now opened fire on the mech at point-blank range. Red warning icons began to appear on her hud, and a spiderweb crack appeared in the windshield as the constant barrage continued to take its toll on the mech. D.Va took aim and managed to dispose of these enemies as well with several well-aimed blasts from her fusion cannons, but she didn't even have a moment to breathe before another burst of fire ripped into Tokki's hull from back at the other end of the warehouse.

One of the bullets struck a hydraulic line in Tokki's waist, and D.Va cried out as searing hot hydraulic fluid sprayed onto her left leg. She felt Tokki's responsiveness change as the main hydraulics finally failed and the backup servos came online. She turned towards the gunfire to see at least a dozen more enemies that hadn't been there before. With few options, she pushed Tokki forwards. The mech was too fragile now to use the boosters, so she was forced to try to slowly close the gap on foot. She managed to reach the center of the warehouse, but Tokki was on its last legs. D.Va briefly heard the distinctive sound of an RPG being fired, but she barely had time to process it before a massive explosion impacted Tokki's hull from the left, sending it staggering. The backup servos shorted and died. Tokki was dead in the water.

To make matters worse, an alarm started beeping at her and a giant red message appeared on her hud.  **Warning: Reactor instability detected. Initiating core shutdown sequence.**

"That's it!" D.Va said out loud. Last time she had tried this, Dae-Hyun had been able to remotely override the mech's reactor safety protocols, but she didn't have that luxury here. She'd have to do this the messy way. She grabbed her bunny blaster from its holster above her head and took aim at the general location of Tokki's central cpu. "Sorry Tokki, I still have a job for you." She unloaded half a clip into the computer, killing the last remaining sparks of life the mech had and stopping the shutdown sequence cold. Tokki was now nothing more than a fancy, pink nuclear time bomb. "Nerf  _ this _ , assholes." She pulled on the handles on the ceiling of the cockpit, releasing a burst of compressed air that blew the mangled escape hatch behind her clear off its hinges, and she dropped out of the mech onto the warehouse's concrete floor. She looked around for cover from the impending explosion and realized there weren't a lot of good options. There were crates and boxes scattered everywhere, but those were going to be completely destroyed in the blast, no doubt.  _ Probably should have thought of that  _ before _ destroying the computer _ , Hana thought, silently cursing herself. There was one last option though; the forklift back near the warehouse entrance. 

Her thoughts were interrupted as a bullet grazed her shoulder, and she gasped in pain as warm blood began to trickle down her sleeve. She ducked behind a crate to cover herself.  _ The forklift will have to do _ . But now there was the matter of getting there. She couldn't just sprint there--she'd be gunned down in an instant. She'd have to run between the crates, taking shots at the enemies in between to keep them off her. D.Va had wound up in a good old-fashioned cover shooter.

Popping up from behind her crate, she quickly took note of each enemy's position before ducking back down as bullets whizzed by overhead. When the gunfire stopped, she popped back up again and opened fire with her bunny blaster. None of her shots hit, but the threat was enough to send the enemies running for cover. She took advantage of the chaos and sprinted towards the forklift.

"Hey! She's making a run for it!"

D.Va tucked her head down and pushed herself even harder as bullets ripped into the concrete around her feet, but she managed to get to the next set of crates without getting hit. She pressed herself against the crates and tried to catch her breath. Her heart was pounding, and her entire body was slick with a miserable combination of sweat, blood, and hydraulic fluid, but she was still very much alive. She quickly looked over the top of the crate and took note of each enemy's new position. After a moment, she stood up and once again took aim with her bunny blaster. This time, several of her shots found their marks, and with the crowd of enemies thinned out slightly, she made her break.

She was about twenty feet away from the forklift when the entire warehouse suddenly turned blindingly bright, and she knew she'd fucked up. For a brief moment, every part of her body that could feel pain, felt it. Pain, as the shockwave of the blast slammed into her back at full force. Pain as the sound of the explosion ripped through her eardrums, filling her ears with blood. Pain as dozens of pieces of shrapnel embedded themselves into her skin from behind. Pain as she slammed face-first into the very forklift she'd been hoping would protect her.

Pain was the last thing Hana Song felt. And then there was nothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Eomeo" - "Oh my!" (Korean)  
> "Anmian" - "Not sorry!" (Korean)
> 
> As always, I love seeing your feedback in the comments, and feel free to shout out any requests for scenes you'd like to see!


	10. Chapter 10

Suddenly, Hana Song's senses returned to her. She opened her eyes to see an utterly blinding light and immediately squeezed them shut again. Several voices were talking around her in what sounded tonally like a normal volume, but to Hana they were deafening. Her clothes felt like weighted sandpaper against her skin. She had no idea where she was or what had happened, but she recognized one of the voices almost immediately.

"Is she okay?" Brigitte watched as Angela examined the screen of the simulation machine Hana had just come out of.

"All of the readings were within acceptable bounds," Angela replied, "but that doesn't rule out the possibility of complications." She knelt down next to Hana. "Can you hear me, Hana?"

Hana visibly flinched. "Not so loud," She whimpered.

Angela dropped her voice to little more than a whisper. "I'm sorry. Do you remember where you are?"

Hana shook her head. "I… wait… I'm at the… I'm in the training room, right? At Gibraltar?"

"Excellent. Do you remember how you got here?"

"I… I was in the simulation… and I… and I died, right?"

"Yes. Now, I'm going to have to double-check your vitals, just to be on the safe side, okay?"

Hana nodded.

"We'll start with your heart rate."

Hana flinched as Angela pressed the cold metal of a stethoscope against her skin. "It's fucking  _ freezing _ !" She hissed.

"It is not uncommon for people to experience some amount of hyperesthesia after dying in the simulated training," Angela replied, unperturbed. "Your senses should start to return to normal after about ten to fifteen minutes."

Brigitte watched as Angela continued to examine Hana. The Korean may have known how important this checkup was, but that didn't mean she was happy about it. She seemed tense, and her displeasure at being poked and prodded while she was still so sensitive was clear. Eventually though, her eyes began to flutter open and shut as she became used to the light around her, and as her eyes fell on Brigitte, she seemed to relax slightly. Angela noticed this, and subtly beckoned for Brigitte to come over.

The Swede knelt down next to the machine and ever so gently touched her hand to Hana's shoulder. "Hey there, Kanin," she murmured. "How are you doing?"

Hana gave Brigitte a small smile. "I think I'll be okay," she replied.

"Alright Hana," Angela said, taking out a blood pressure gauge. "I'm going to check your blood pressure. Unfortunately, given your elevated sensitivity… this will probably hurt."

Hana sighed. "Great…"

"Would it… would it help if I held your hand?" Brigitte offered hesitantly. 

"Yeah," Hana admitted quietly. "I'd like that." Brigitte ever so gently took Hana's hand in her own, careful not to press or rub too hard on Hana's over-sensitive skin. Hana looked up at her and gave a small smile. "Thanks," she said quietly, as Angela wrapped the cuff around Hana's other arm and began to pump it up.

As the cuff tightened around Hana's arm, so too did Hana's hand tighten around Brigitte's, though otherwise she seemed to be hiding her pain well. "Does it hurt?" Brigitte asked softly.

"It feels like my arm's in a vice grip," Hana replied, and Brigitte could hear the tension in her voice.

"Only a few more seconds," Angela reassured as she began to release the pressure from the cuff. "You're doing quite well."

"Thanks."

Angela checked the reading, hummed to herself, and removed the cuff from Hana's arm, but Hana's hand lingered against Brigitte's for just a moment or two longer before they pulled apart. "Alright," Angela said, "physically everything is in order. So, I just have a quick mental evaluation, and then I can send you on your way. Where were you born?"

"Pssh, easy. Busan, South Korea."

"And where are you now?"

"I'm at the Overwatch Watchpoint in Gibraltar."

"And why are you here?"

"I'm an ambassador from MEKA with the purpose of forming and securing an alliance between them and Overwatch."

"And what did you have for breakfast this morning?"

"I had a bowl of Lúcio-Ohs."

"Excellent. Now, have you experienced any sensory hallucinations aside from the increased sensitivity to stimulation?"

Hana shook her head.

"Are you feeling any pain?"

Hana shook her head again. "My arm's a little sore from the blood pressure thingy, but that's it."

Angela nodded. "Very good. Now, you let one of us know  _ immediately _ if that changes, verstehen? Minor to moderate headaches due to overstimulation are not uncommon, but anything else may be cause for concern."

"Got it."

"Brigitte, why don't you help Hana to her feet and escort her to someplace peaceful?"

Brigitte nodded as Hana sat up from the machine. The Swede gently held the Korean underneath the arms and slowly lifted her until she was standing on her own two feet, albeit shakily.

"My legs feel really weird," Hana said, holding on to Brigitte's shoulders to steady herself. "Like, you know when you've been wearing a really heavy backpack all day and you finally take it off? Kinda like the… opposite of that? Except not quite? I… don't really know how else to explain it…"

"Do you need me to carry you?" Brigitte offered.

Hana shook her head. "I think I'll be fine, just… gimme a bit to get used to it."

Brigitte nodded, keeping her hands gently under Hana's arms to help keep her steady. "Just let me know when you're ready for me to let go." 

After a moment, Hana gently pulled away. "Okay. Can we… can you take me back to the dock?" She asked. "I like it there."

Brigitte smiled. "Of course! Följ mig!" She led Hana out of the training range, but shortly after the door closed behind them, she noticed that the smaller woman looked quite tense. "Hana?" She asked. "Is everything okay?"

Hana wanted to say something, but she couldn't find the words. "I… I'm… I don't…"

Brigitte stepped in front of her and gently put her hands on her shoulders. "Hey now," she said softly, "talk to me, bunny."

"Can you…" Hana's voice got very quiet. "...Can you... hold my hand again?"

"Of course!" Brigitte slid her hand down Hana's arm and very carefully took Hana's hand in her own.

"Thanks," Hana said quietly.

"Anytime," Brigitte assured. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"I just… need an anchor right now," Hana replied.

Brigitte gave Hana a reassuring smile and gently rubbed the smaller woman's knuckles with her thumb. "Training got you a little shaken up?" She asked.

Hana shook her head. "Not the training part. Just the… dying… part. I've never actually… died in the training before…"

"Yeah, the first time is always rough," Brigitte said.

"Well…  _ technically _ I have died before, once," Hana admitted. She noticed the look of confusion on Brigitte's face and continued. "The night that I had to fight off the Gwishin on my own… I almost failed. I managed to kill almost all of them, but the last one latched onto my mech and started ripping it apart. I had no choice… I told Dae-Hyun to help me overload the reactor and override the safety protocols, and then I bailed and shot the reactor until it blew up. I was out of the blast range when it went off, but falling 90 feet into the East Sea is a rough landing no matter how you cut it… The impact knocked me out on the spot and I drifted in and out of consciousness all night... I got airlifted to the hospital, and at some point… my heart stopped. They defibrillated me immediately, but… yeah… technically I died. I barely remember any of it, but it was nothing like this… Dying that night was… almost peaceful… it kinda just felt like falling asleep and then waking up without having any dreams. But  _ this… _ "

"What… happened in the training?" Brigitte asked hesitantly.

"I killed the first wave of enemies but… I was reckless." The nervous tension in Hana's voice was obvious, and mounted as she spoke. "I wasn't expecting there to be another wave, so I didn't worry as much about taking damage as I should have. When the second wave showed up, they completely killed Tokki. Before I bailed, I saw that the reactor was going critical, and I thought, 'why not blow it up again? I mean--it  _ did _ work last time, and I don't have a 90 foot fall to worry about this time! What's the worst that could happen??'" She let out a nervous giggle. "Well, long story short I didn't make it to cover in time and I blew myself up. Violent. Painful. Instant. Boom."

Brigitte could see Hana shaking nervously, and gently pulled the smaller woman into a tight hug. Hana didn't need much encouragement, pressing herself tightly against Brigitte and burying her head into the larger woman's chest, focusing in on the Swede's strong, steady breathing and carefully measuring her own to match.

"Hey," Brigitte murmured, "It was only a simulation, right? None of it was real." Hana nodded against Brigitte's chest, still trying to match her breathing. "Listen," Brigitte continued, "we'll hang out on the docks for a bit, and then after my briefing, why don't you come over to my room? We can steal all the snacks from the kitchen after lunch, snuggle up and watch some dumb funny movies, maybe stay the night, 'kay?"

Hana gently pulled away so that she could see Brigitte's face, and nodded. "Yeah… I'd… actually like that a lot."

Brigitte smiled and released Hana from her embrace, allowing their hands to fall back together. 

"Thanks," Hana said again.

Brigitte let out a very small chuckle.

"What?" Hana asked, more curious than anything.

"That's three times now that you've thanked me for holding your hand," Brigitte replied. "I was just thinking about how, most of the people who get to hold your hand probably thank  _ you _ , not the other way around."

Hana managed a small chuckle as well. "Yeah, I suppose that's true." They walked for a few seconds before she spoke again. "If I'm being honest… I was afraid to ask. I was worried you'd feel like it was too... romantic or something."

Brigitte smiled warmly, though she felt a small twinge in her heart. "You needed me to be there for you," she said, "I wasn't going to turn you down. Besides… you know I wouldn't mind even if you  _ did _ mean it that way, right?"

"You wouldn't?" Hana asked, trying to mask the hopefulness in her voice.

"Of course not! I'm not one of those people who gets uncomfortable when someone has a crush on them… frankly I never really understood the people who  _ do _ ."

For Hana, hearing Brigitte say this was a relief, but she still couldn't bring herself to confess her feelings yet. Still, she felt like she had to say  _ something _ . "I mean… for me it depends on the person. Like, it's a lot different if it's someone I know and trust, versus some random creep commenting on my latest swimwear photoshoot, ya know?"

"Well, yeah," Brigitte admitted, "that makes sense."

Hana decided to go just a bit further out on her limb. "Like, you, for example? I wouldn't mind at all."  _ Maybe she'll get the hint… _

Brigitte blushed. Hana had left the door wide open for her--practically invited her in-- and yet she still didn't have the courage to cross the threshold. "That's good to know," she managed to say, hoping it would be enough to at least put her foot in the door.

Hana responded with an affectionate smile, which Brigitte happily returned.

_ Perhaps…  _ both girls thought to themselves,  _ this  _ might  _ be going somewhere after all. Slowly, to be sure, but… Perhaps. _

__ They arrived at the dock and sat down on the edge, legs dangling over the water. Hana scooched over so that her thigh pressed firmly against Brigitte's, and the Swede was all too happy to indulge her as she wrapped her arm snugly around Hana's shoulders. Hana leaned her head against Brigitte's shoulder in turn, wrapping her arm around her sturdy waist, and sighed contentedly. The gentle whooshing of the waves in the ocean ahead of them formed a calming white noise, over which seagulls could be heard bickering for scraps of fish and crabs. A soft zephyr blew into the cavern, gently ruffling the girls' hair and kissing their cheeks with a faint spray of seawater. Distantly, a channel bell echoed off of the cliffs above them.

"You happy?" Brigitte asked affectionately.

"All things considered… yeah, I'd say so," Hana replied. "You?"

Brigitte gave Hana a small squeeze. "Very happy, Little Bunny."

"Why do you sometimes call me 'Bunny' and sometimes call me 'Kanin?'" Hana asked quizzically. "Don't they mean the same thing?"

Brigitte shrugged. "I dunno… I mean--they  _ do _ mean the same thing, I'm just not sure why I use both. I guess so that I don't feel like I'm wearing them out as fast?"

Hana chuckled. "Fair enough. I don't mind--they're both cute--I was just curious." Brigitte blushed a little at Hana's comment. "You know," Hana continued, " _ Hero Of My Storm _ comes out in a week--we should really start thinking about where we'll go to see it."

"Oh! I was just thinking we'd go to, like, some local place?" Brigitte replied. "I'm sure we could get an English viewing…"

"Absolutely not!" Hana exclaimed with mock indignation. "If you're going to see the  _ great  _ Hana Song on the big screen, there's only one place to do it! The Busan International Theater."

Brigitte raised her eyebrows. "You think we can swing enough leave with Winston to go to  _ Busan _ ? That's, like, almost a week's trip, at  _ least! _ "

"Of course we can!" Hana said defiantly. "And you'll get to meet Yuna, and Dae-Hyun, and the others, and I can show you all the cool places to visit! There's some really cute restaurants downtown, and the Sanctuary's so pretty this time of year! Ooh! And we can go to my favorite PC Bang and play Mecha Guardian V, and there's a karaoke bar down the street, and--"

Brigitte laughed. "Well I'll see if I can talk him into it during the mission. Failing that,  _ maybe _ I'll be lucky enough to get us a couple days to see it at Lena's favorite theater in King's Row." She pulled her phone out of her pocket and glanced at it, before putting it back.

"Whatcha lookin' at?" Hana asked curiously.

"The time," Brigitte replied. "We've still got about an hour before we need to meet Winston and the others for the briefing."

"It's only eleven?" Hana asked, surprised.

Brigitte chuckled. "Yep! That's what happens when you wake up at a reasonable hour!"

Hana snorted. "Sujae."

Brigitte looked over at her. "What's that mean?" She asked, confused.

"Smartass."

Brigitte feigned offense. "Oh, wow. Okay, then."

Hana playfully stuck out her tongue in response.

They sat for a minute or so before Hana shifted, pressing her forehead firmly against Brigitte's shoulder. "You good, Bunny?" Brigitte asked.

"My head hurts," Hana groaned.

Brigitte gently rubbed her hand up and down Hana's shoulder. "Bad enough that we should see Angela?"

Hana shook her head. "Nah, just bad enough to be uncomfortable."

Brigitte gave her an affectionate smile. "We'll be sure to steal extra drinks from the kitchen after lunch," she said as she gently pulled Hana up onto her lap. The smaller woman happily obliged, wrapping her legs around Brigitte's waist and nestling her head into the crook of her neck.

For a while, Brigitte just sat there enjoying the moment. Appreciating Hana's weight on top of her, the way their chests and stomachs pressed together, the way she could feel the smaller woman's gentle, relaxed breathing--such a far cry earlier. Sharing the warmth of another person's embrace, especially one as affectionate as Hana, was a kind of joy and comfort unlike any other, and Brigitte had never realized until today how desperately she'd always craved it. Perhaps she was simply misremembering, but Brigitte could have sworn that none of her other crushes had ever been this intense. Hana was smart, kind, funny, affectionate, and dazzlingly pretty, and yet, all of this barely scratched the surface of Brigitte's feelings for her. 

She felt Hana stirring against her and looked down to see the smaller woman looking wistfully off at the ocean. "You know, someday we really need to come down here in proper bathing suits and go swimming for real," Hana said.

Brigitte blushed a little at the thought of seeing Hana in a swimsuit. Sure, she'd seen her in photos, but in the flesh? That was something else. Still, the reality of the situation couldn't be ignored. "We definitely do, but… it's probably gonna be a bit before we actually get the chance. The water gets cold fast this time of year!"

Hana turned back to face her. "What do you mean? It was fine a couple days ago. A little chilly, yeah, but still."

Brigitte sighed. "Yeah, but I'm leaving tomorrow, and depending on how long that takes I could be gone three, maybe even four days. After that, we need to pack up to go to Busan, and we'll be there for at least a week, and then by the time we get back we may well have another mission waiting for us, and next thing you know it's mid-November and the water's too cold to be safe."

Hana groaned and leaned back dramatically. "Why must life always be--woah!" Brigitte quickly tightened her grip and pulled Hana back in as the Korean lost her balance and nearly fell backwards into the water. "Thanks!" Hana said once she regained her balance. "You saved my ass!"

"Well, it is an ass worth saving," Brigitte replied with a smile.

Hana blushed. "Was that an  _ Uncharted  _ reference, or were you just saying I have a nice ass?"

Now it was Brigitte's turn to blush. "Maybe a bit of both?" She admitted sheepishly.

Hana felt her cheeks start to burn. "Th-thanks…" she managed. "You have a… really nice… ass… too…"

Brigitte's entire face turned a vibrant red. "I… thanks…"

They sat in awkward silence for a few moments, neither one able to figure out how to follow up. They were eventually saved by a buzz from Brigitte's phone. The Swede tried to fish it out of her pocket, but the way she was sitting with Hana on top of her made it difficult. After a couple tries, she gave up trying to do it sitting, and flopped back on the dock to make it easier. At last, she managed to get her phone out and she opened it to check the message.

"Who is it?" Hana asked, twisting around to look at Brigitte.

"It's Lena," Brigitte replied. "She's wondering how you're doing."

Hana smiled and lay down on top of her, resting her head on the Swede's chest. 

"Tell her I'm doing just fine."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well it's about time we had some more fluff! I had a bit of trouble figuring out how to wrap this chapter up, but I feel like I came to a reasonable solution. I had a few conversations I was considering including in the dock scene, but I felt like those made more sense in a late-night context, so look for those to appear later. 
> 
> This is turning out to be a much slower burn than I'd originally intended. Brig and Hana are *pretty* close to taking the next step at this point, but unfortunately there's a couple plot points that need to happen first. Soon though, friends. I promise!
> 
> Lastly, as always, please feel free to let me know what you thought, what you liked, what you didn't like, and/or what you'd like to see in the comments! Thanks again to everyone who's stuck with this story, and everyone who's just come aboard! Your support means a lot!


	11. Chapter 11

"You're absolutely  _ sure _ you don't want to come in with me?" Brigitte stood with Hana just outside the door to the Watchpoint briefing room. The others were already inside by the time they had arrived, but for Brigitte, making sure Hana's needs were attended to came before strict punctuality. She was only two minutes late anyways.

Hana sighed. "For the third time, yes, I'm sure. Like I said before, going in there is only going to make it even more obvious what I'm missing out on. I don't want to feel any more left out than I already do. You can fill me in on what I actually care about when you get out."

Brigitte nodded. "Should I meet you back at your room afterwards, or…?"

"Actually I was planning on waiting out here," Hana replied, pulling her GameGo Holo out of her pocket. "Then we can go to lunch together afterwards, if that's okay?"

Brigitte smiled. "Of course it's okay, Kanin. Just didn't want you to get bored."

Hana returned the smile and gave Brigitte a quick hug before sitting down next to the door and turning on her handheld.

* * *

"Ah, there you are," Winston said as Brigitte entered the briefing room and sat down in between Reinhardt and Lena.

"We're all glad you and Hana are getting along," Lena whispered, leaning over towards Brigitte, "but try to make sure it doesn't get in the way of your work."

"I know!" Brigitte replied defensively. "I'm only a couple minutes late!"

"I know luv," Tracer said gently, "Just try not to make a habit of it, is all."

"Now," Winston continued, "As some of you know, we have a contact in the Caribbean. He is ex-Talon, but he has consistently provided us with reliable and useful information, and Angela has worked with him in the past. He has informed us of some concerning Talon activity in Havana, especially around the old distillery and sea fort. Our mission will be to investigate this activity, and put a stop to it. Tracer, Genji, and I will form the main strike team with our contact, as we are already familiar with this area of the city. The rest of you will be tasked with securing the perimeter and making sure the civilians are safe. After all, there's always the risk of things getting messy with Talon involved. 

"Now, many of us have dealt with Talon in the past, but for those of you who haven't, there are four main types of units you can expect to encounter. The most common are basic infantry. They are armed with standard assault rifles and have only very basic training, but they can be dangerous in numbers. Try not to let them overwhelm you, and they should be quick and easy to take out. The other three are elite units--snipers, assassins, and heavy assaults. Snipers are expert marksmen and women, and their high-powered sniper rifles are deadly at long range. They have grappling hooks that they can use for mobility, but they are poorly equipped for close-range combat. Stay behind shields and cover to close the distance, and strike when  _ you  _ have the advantage. 

"Assassins are extremely agile, close-range fighters. They will often perch in dark corners, dashing from shadow to shadow until you let your guard down. Then, they pounce on top of you, slashing away until there's nothing left. It is vitally important that you  _ never _ lose track of their position, as doing so can be fatal. If one  _ does _ manage to knock you down, the priority of everyone else is to knock them off as quickly as possible, by any means necessary. If you can't kill them quickly, stun them or tackle them. Their death can wait, your teammate's survival cannot.

"Lastly, there is the heavy assault unit. They are extremely heavily armed and armored, and surprisingly mobile. Typically they wield a pair of heavy chain guns, so don't face them head-on without a shield. Their durability means that they will require coordinated strikes and focus fire to take down. If you see a heavy assault unit, killing them should be your top priority, not only because of their danger to the team, but because their size and imprecision creates an extremely high risk of civilian casualties and collateral damage."

Winston pressed a few keys on the computer in front of him, and an aerial map of Havana appeared on the briefing room screen. "This is a map of the area we will be working within. Lena, Angela, Genji--you are all familiar with this part of the city. For the rest of you, this is the distillery, and this is the sea fort." He pointed to each in turn. "And this," he drew a circle on the map, "is the perimeter you will be securing. As you can see, much of it is coastline, so you don't need to worry about that. But for the rest of it, your job is to keep civilians out, and Talon in. We will be leaving at 9am tomorrow, and the flight will take about eleven hours. That gets us there just in time for a nighttime mission, which is ideal for us because of both the reduced risk of detection, and because fewer civilians will be out. Assuming everything goes well, we should be wrapped up by dawn and ready to start the flight back by mid-morning, which means that by nightfall the day after tomorrow we should all be back here safe and sound. Any questions?" Those present shook their heads. "Excellent. This concludes the pre-mission briefing."

As Brigitte left the briefing room with the others, Hana hopped up and gave her another quick hug, which she happily accepted. "So," the brunette asked as they began to walk towards the kitchen, dawdling slightly behind the others, "How long will you be gone?"

"Not too long," Brigitte replied. "We're leaving tomorrow at 9, and we should be back late on Saturday. So it's just one overnight."

"I guess that's not that bad," Hana admitted reluctantly. Being away from Brigitte for one night wasn't a problem for her in and of itself, but being entirely alone in a place she'd only known for about a week, while all her friends were away on a dangerous mission that they might not come back from, was far from her idea of fun.

"Are you always this nervous when your friends go on missions?" Brigitte asked gently.

"No." Hana snipped back with just a hint of bitterness. "Normally I'm out there  _ with  _ them." Brigitte flinched slightly at her tone, and Hana immediately felt a pang of guilt.

"Are you worried you won't be able to protect me?" Brigitte asked hesitantly.

"That…" Hana confirmed quietly. "And I'm worried I won't be there to say goodbye… if it comes to that."

"Noble fears both." Reinhardt, who had apparently been eavesdropping on their conversation, slowed down to walk alongside them. He spoke to Hana with a softness that only his goddaughter had ever heard before. "But you should not be afraid. Brigitte's the  _ last  _ person here who needs protection, and even if she did, there's not a person going on that mission who would not readily lay down their life for her. After all," He added with a small smile, "if anything happened to her, Torbjörn would kill us anyways." By now, the rest of the group had slowed down to walk with them as well.

"I'm worried about  _ all  _ of you though," Hana replied, "Not just Brigitte."

"Well," Winston offered, "We've all been through plenty of tough scrapes in the past. We know what we're doing."

"Yeah!" Brigitte agreed. "Reinhardt alone has been doing this longer than I've even been alive!"

"I've worked over two dozen missions both with and without Overwatch," Angela chimed in. "Not  _ once  _ have I lost a teammate in the field. I do not intend to begin now."

"She's right," Lena confirmed. "Heroes never die on Angie's watch!"

Genji nodded. "If you had seen me after my battle with my brother, you would understand the miracles she can perform. When she is around, even death has no hold."

Lúcio put his hand on Hana's shoulder. "Obviously there's a chance something goes wrong, but that's the case with anything--even going on a car ride! And given the way Brigitte drives, I'd be more worried about  _ that  _ than a simple mission."

Brigitte chuckled. "What can I say? I had Reinhardt as a driving instructor!"

"Thank you," Hana sniffed. "All of you. It means a lot."

"We're all here for you Hana!" Mei said. "You're part of the family now!"

They arrived at the kitchen and each started preparing their lunches in turn, before sitting down at the table. Hana sat next to Brigitte, leaving just a bit of distance between them. Brigitte didn't mind, she probably wouldn't be comfortable yet sharing the same kind of closeness with Hana around the others as they shared in private. Hugs and shoulder touches were one thing--and they did those plenty, but open snuggling was likely to prompt questions that neither of them were particularly eager to answer right now.

"So Angela," Mei began. "Winston said you've worked with our contact before?"

"Once," Angela confirmed. "On a humanitarian project."

"What was he like?"

Angela smiled. "Oh, he was  _ quite  _ the gentleman. Very passionate about our work--I could tell he genuinely wanted to help people. He also had an excellent sense of humor. Very knowledgeable, too. Not many people can keep pace with me when I'm talking about biotic technology, but I could tell that he did his research, and understood it deeply." She took a sip of her drink. "How that poor man got mixed up with Talon in the first place is beyond me."

"I don't know if it was the same in the Caribbean," Lúcio said, "But in Rio, way back before they were known as a global terrorist organization, they ran a pretty aggressive PR campaign in the poor communities. Kinda like Vishkar except somehow even worse. Marketed themselves as a kind of 'Overwatch-for-hire' deal. Recruited a lot of innocent people that way. Of course, I'd imagine that anyone who joined figured out what Talon  _ really  _ was pretty damn quick, but Talon isn't exactly the sort of job you can just  _ resign  _ from. Major props to him for actually getting out of there."

As the conversation continued, Brigitte glanced over at Hana to see her looking a little off. She was nodding and smiling and appeared to be playing along with the conversation, but it seemed hollow and forced, like her mind was somewhere else. She looked tense as well, and her breathing seemed sharper than normal. The others hadn't noticed, and Brigitte didn't want to draw attention to it, so she quietly took out her phone and held it under the table.

[Hey Bunny, everything okay?] She texted.

Hana flinched and let out a slight squeak as her phone vibrated in her pocket. She took it out and glanced at it.

[Idk,] she texted back, [All this talk about the mission's making me feel left out. Plus, I think the training got me a little more shaken up than I thought. Just had a flashback and now I'm completely on edge.]

[Need me to get you out of here?]

Brigitte watched as the three little dots on Hana's side of the screen bounced up and down for what felt like ages, before finally a message popped up.

[Please.]

Brigitte put her phone back in her pocket and stood up. "As much as I'd like to hang around a little longer, Hana and I have plans for the rest of the afternoon."

Lena cocked an eyebrow. "Oh? Did you two finally figure--OW! What the hell, Lúcio?!"

"You probably won't see us for the rest of the night!" Brigitte exclaimed as she and Hana gathered up plenty of snacks and drinks.

"Remember!" Winston called out. "We leave at 9 tomorrow morning! Don't be late!"

"Don't worry! I won't be!"

As Brigitte and Hana left the kitchen, they heard Lena whisper something angrily, to which Lúcio replied, "Well  _ maybe  _ if you had better taste in  _ footwear  _ it wouldn't have  _ hurt _ so much!"

* * *

They reached Brigitte's room and quickly set down the snacks and soda on the bed. Brigitte hurriedly slid the door shut and immediately turned around and pulled Hana into a tight hug, feeling the smaller woman physically shaking against her. "Hey, Lilla Kanin," she cooed. "It's okay. It's okay."

Hana nodded against Brigitte's chest as she pressed herself firmly into the embrace, trying to anchor herself to Brigitte's strong, steady breathing and heartbeat.

"You can cry if you need to," Brigitte said softly. "It's just you and me here. No one else."

Hana shook her head. "I'll be fine," she said, her voice shaking but not cracking. "Just… please don't let go."

"I won't, Hana," Brigitte murmured. "I never would."

They stood there holding each other for a minute or two until Hana finally stopped shaking. Even then, the hug lingered for a few more seconds before she pulled away at last. "I'm sorry for being such a handful lately," she said quietly.

"What? No!" Brigitte exclaimed. "Hana, none of this is your fault. You have nothing to apologize for!"

"Even so… not a lot of people would be as helpful and supportive as you have been."

"Then you can thank me if you really feel like I deserve it," Brigitte said gently, "but don't apologize for needing help. That's a quick and easy way to get down on yourself, and I don't want to see that happen to you, okay Bun?"

Hana nodded. "Yeah, okay. Thank you, for being here for me so much."

Brigitte smiled. "Anytime." She gently ruffled Hana's hair. "So, are there any movies you particularly want to watch?"

"Actually… I was wondering if I could play something on your PS4? It's harder for me to space out when I'm actually playing a game."

"Of course! Here, help me move my desk over in front of my bed-- we'll be cozier there. It's got little wheels underneath, so it'll roll." She grabbed on to one side of the desk, and Hana grabbed on to the other, and together they pushed it over so that only about a foot and a half separated it from the edge of Brigitte's bed. Brigitte climbed in first and sat down, using her pillows and stuffed animal to prop up her back. Hana climbed in after her, and nestled snugly between her legs, leaning back against Brigitte's chest.

Brigitte leaned back as well, sinking cozily into the pillows behind her, and the two came to rest at such an angle where the back of Hana's head rested comfortably at the top of Brigitte's chest, the Swede's breasts forming a very comfy neck pillow for her. Brigitte felt her cheeks warm slightly and her heart flutter, and as Hana glanced back she noticed a faint blush on her cheeks as well, but neither woman had any desire to ask the other to move. This setup was comfy, close, and intimate, and they were both very much okay with that.

Brigitte handed Hana the controller. "You get to be player one today, Kanin. You deserve it. Now, what do you want to play?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's on the short side. I had more I was planning to do with it, but I couldn't get to it in time to keep with my release schedule. But, that'll all be in the next chapter!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the week delay, I've had a lot on my plate these past few weeks! That being said, I hope this is worth the wait!

"You said you have Horizon Zero Dawn, right?" Hana asked. "I was wondering if I could play that? I mean, it  _ is  _ a bit of a classic, after all, and I've never actually played it!"

"Of course!" Brigitte replied. "Do you want to just hop into my save and see the gameplay, or do you want to start the story over at the beginning?"

Hana twisted around so that she could see Brigitte's face. "Well… how long are we gonna be here?"

Brigitte smiled. "As long as you want to stay, Kanin."

Hana looked up at Brigitte with a slightly begging expression. "All night?" She asked.

Brigitte laughed and ruffled Hana's hair. "You don't need to give me puppy eyes for that, Hana! Of course you can stay the night!"

Hana smiled a little sheepishly. "Then can I start a new save?"

"Sure! Here, let me set it up for you!"

Hana handed her the controller, and Brigitte started the new save before handing it back. As the opening cutscene began to play, Hana settled back against Brigitte's body, and the Swede welcomed her by wrapping her arms around her stomach, gently pulling her close.

"Wow!" Hana gasped. "The colors are so pretty!"

Brigitte smiled. "Yeah, I love how vibrant and colorful it is!"

"Is that a baby Aloy?"

"Yep!"

"Oh. Cool."

"Not big on kids?"

"I mean, I don't  _ hate  _ them, but…"

"Yeah, I feel that."

"That old lady seems cool. I like her."

"Teersa? Yeah, she's nice."

"Does Rost die?"

"I'm not gonna spoil the story for you, Hana. You're just gonna have to play and find out!"

"I feel like he's gonna die."

Brigitte chuckled.

"'Six years later,'" Hana said, reading the text on the screen. "Dang, her hair's really poofy!"

Brigitte popped open a bag of chips and began snacking. "Yeah, it looks a lot better when she grows up."

They continued through the tutorial, and reached a cutscene of a training montage, which ended with Aloy as an adult.

"Damn! Aloy's  _ hot!"  _ Hana exclaimed.

__ "Yip! Aloy is Bae-loy!" Brigitte replied with a laugh.

"You know, she kinda looks like you!"

"You think so?" Brigitte blushed a little. Was Hana flirting with her again? "I mean, I know the hair is a  _ little _ similar, but--"

"Not just her hair. Her face too! Her nose and jaw especially!" Hana looked back with a smile.

"Huh. Should I take that as a compliment?"

"Absolutely!"

The room around them grew dim as afternoon faded into evening. A line of soda cans was forming on the desk, and Hana and Brig were on their third bag of chips. They were well into the story by now, and Hana was currently fighting off a group of snapmaws for a side quest.

"You know," Hana said, "It feels kind of… weird… to hear them referring to these living, thinking creatures as… well… 'machines.'"

Brigitte shrugged. "I mean, these days it's definitely got a pretty negative connotation when used to describe artificial life, sure, but you have to remember that it wasn't like that when this game was made. At the time, AI that advanced was the realm of science fiction. The word 'machine' as a derogatory term for omnics didn't even exist at the time."

"Yeah, that's true…" Hana agreed hesitantly.

"Besides," Brigitte continued, "The question of whether or not the AI is actually  _ alive _ doesn't even really come up in the game. Aloy and the other characters consider them life just like any of the organic fauna that populates the world. I'd say that aside from some poorly-aged wording, this game actually has a fairly progressive stance on artificial life!"

"Huh," Hana said. "I guess that's a good point." She hesitated for a moment, then asked, "Do you think omnics are alive?"

"Absolutely," Brigitte replied firmly. "I mean, really, what makes them so different from us? The fact that they trade cells for silicon? I don't think that matters. People say they don't think for themselves, they just follow their programming and combine it with the things they observe in the world. But isn't that what our thoughts are? A combination of our DNA--our programming--and our own experiences? Do we not learn by observing as well? I've seen omnics grow and flourish far beyond the confines of their original programming. And just because they may be unpredictable at times doesn't make them any less alive--after all, humans are the same way!"

"Those are all good points," Hana agreed.

"What about you?" Brigitte asked. "Do you think omnics are alive?"

"Definitely," Hana said quietly. "I… honestly don't really know many omnics myself. I've met a few fans here and there, but… mostly I know the Gwishin. I've been face to face with them before and… there's  _ something  _ inside them, I can tell. Something twisted and horrible, but very much alive. They're angry and hateful. Vengeful even. They hold grudges if you let them get away. They relish in the death and destruction they cause. That kind of...  _ evil _ ... can't be anything  _ but _ alive."

Evening fell away into night, and by now the only source of light in the room was the light from the monitor itself. Hana had long since abandoned anything related to the plot and was now wandering the map aimlessly, simply enjoying the scenery. As the late-night high began to kick in, the conversation shifted towards deeper, and more personal topics.

"Hey Brig?" Hana murmured, still nestled snugly in Brigitte's embrace.

"Mmm?" Brigitte hummed in response.

"Do you… do you think it's… weird… how we've gotten so close so quickly?" Hana asked hesitantly. "I mean, we've only known each other a week--not even, and well… here we are spending entire days together. I don't  _ mind _ , but it's just sorta hitting me that… I mean… I dunno. This isn't how most of my friendships go."

"It's not," Brigitte agreed with a shrug, "but I don't really think it's that weird. I mean… sometimes you meet someone and you just… right away you know it's gonna be good, right?"

"I suppose…" Hana paused the game and shifted so that she could look at Brigitte more easily. "Was that how you felt about me…?" She asked hesitantly.

Brigitte chuckled. "We're talking about us, aren't we?"

"Yeah," Hana admitted, "I guess I'm just not used to having a friendship like this. It feels way more… intimate than anything I've had before. I honestly don't really know how to navigate it."

"We can tone it back if you want," Brigitte offered, feeling a pinch in her heart. "I mean… I don't really know how to navigate it either, but… I mean, I like it, so I was just sorta going along with it cuz I thought you did too, but if you don't…"

"No, I absolutely like it!" Hana exclaimed. "I just…" she sighed. "You know I don't do this whole 'people' thing very well, right? It all feels so easy when I'm playing the role of D.Va, but she's not  _ me _ . She's so aloof--she doesn't care what other people think of her at all, but  _ I  _ do care, maybe even a little too much. And that can make it tough to get this close to someone. It's scary. Because I really,  _ really  _ want you to like me, and I really,  _ really  _ enjoy being this close, but I'm also worried that one wrong move could ruin everything. I guess that's part of the reason why I prefer to keep people at arm's length. If my boundaries are further away than theirs, then I can't fuck it up, right?"

Brigitte started to gently rub Hana's shoulder, feeling the Korean lean into her hand ever so slightly. "If I'm being honest," she admitted, "you've never really come close to my boundaries. They're obviously different depending on who I'm with, but there's honestly not much you could do that would spook me or make me uncomfortable. And even if you did… it probably wouldn't be enough for you to scare me away. For better or for worse, I have a tough time breaking things off."

Something about Brigitte's tone made Hana's heart ache. "Better or worse? You say it like you have experience with both…"

Brigitte let out a heavy sigh. "Plenty…" she admitted quietly. 

"Hey," Hana said softly, wrapping her arms around Brigitte's shoulders and silently cursing how their difference in size made it so difficult to physically comfort her. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have prodded."

Brigitte managed a small smile. "It's fine."

"And if I  _ ever  _ do something that upsets you, or spooks you, or reminds you of something you'd rather not remember, you let me know, 'kay?"

"Thank you, Hana. I will."

"Promise?"

Brigitte let out a faint chuckle. "Yes, Kanin, I promise."

"Good." Hana smiled and rested the side of her head against Brigitte's chest. "Now, why don't you tell me something happy?"

"Something happy?" Brigitte replied. "Well… there was that time Pappa and Mamma took me to Blizzard World for my 20th birthday!"

Hana's eyes widened and she looked back up at Brigitte. "No way! You went to  _ Blizzard World _ ?! I've always wanted to go there!"

"Well then maybe I'll take you there after everything's settled down!" Brigitte offered with a smile.

"You better know  _ damn  _ well I'll be holding you to that!" Hana replied eagerly.

"I hope you do!" Brigitte said, and Hana felt her heart flip-flop. 

"Well, go on! Tell me about it!" Hana said, playfully poking at Brigitte's side. "What was it like? How was the food? What was your favorite ride?"

Brigitte laughed, her heart bubbling with affection at Hana's goofy enthusiasm. "Well we started at the Hearthstone Tavern! Pappa and I played a couple matches together and I absolutely destroyed him. Then we went inside the castle and went on Flight to Duskwood-- that one's my favorite! The eagle cars are so cute, and it's just the right amount of scary for a wimp like me! Then we had lunch at Snaxxramus. The food was really good but also  _ really  _ unhealthy; I got more grease on my hands from eating their pizza than I do working on Reinhardt's armor! Then we took a walk through Pylon Terrace and the Nexus Experience before playing some games in the Heroes Arcade. Turns out Mamma is really good at skeeball! I almost went on Tyrael's Fall, but I chickened out at the last minute, so we went to The Hellscream instead. Now  _ that _ was scary!"

As Brigitte continued to ramble, her mind drifting off down memory lane, Hana just gazed at her longingly. Slowly, she paid less and less attention to what Brigitte was saying, and more attention to  _ how  _ she was saying it. The way she laughed at her own jokes, the way her voice rose and fell melodically, the way her lips slowly spread into a broad smile as she remembered those fun times. Hana felt her heart begin to ache.  _ She's so fucking pretty when she's happy. I mean, she's pretty all the time but…. Fuck, just looking at her now makes it hard to breathe. I want her so badly. I want to make her this happy someday. I love her so much it hurts. Why does asking her out have to be so scary? Why can't I be braver? Why does being in love have to be so hard? I don't know how much longer I can go on like this, not knowing how she feels. It's torture. It hurts so much. What if she goes off on the mission tomorrow and doesn't come back? And I never know how she felt? I should tell her tonight. But what if she doesn't like me back and she pushes me away? Then I have to spend the night alone and she goes off on her mission tomorrow angry with me! What if she never comes back, and the last memory I have of her is her hating me? Fuck, that'd be even worse! That'd be so much worse! Dammit Hana! You're gonna make yourself cry! It's all too fucking much... _

"Hana?" Brigitte's voice sliced through Hana's thoughts, pulling her mind back to their warm embrace. "What's wrong? You were completely spaced out and you looked like you were about to cry. Did you have another flashback?" Her happiness had faded into a deep concern, and Hana hated herself for causing it.

"Yeah… We'll go with that," Hana deflected quietly. 

"Hana…" Brigitte said softly. Seeing Hana so upset hurt badly enough as it was, but seeing her refuse to talk about it hurt even more. She wanted to help her poor friend so badly, but she didn't even know what was making her so upset. It didn't help at all that this was the time of night that emotions ran high and reason got bent just a little out of shape. As Hana's eyes began to glisten with tears in the dim light, Brigitte's heart shattered into a thousand pieces.

"I-I'm so sorry, Brig," Hana choked. "I was j-just trying to make you happy, and I f-fucked it all up. I'm so s-sorry! It's all m-my fault!"

Brigitte pulled Hana close and gently rocked her back and forth. "It's okay, Bunny. It's okay. It's not your fault. You've had a long, rough day and a long, rough night before that. You literally died this morning! You're worried about my mission tomorrow. It's late, and you're tired. You're all kinds of worked up and stressed out, and that's okay. It's okay to cry a bit. I've cried over much sillier things when I was tired. And even sillier things than those when I'm drunk. Don't get down on yourself because of one overwhelming day, okay?"

Hana nodded and pulled away to wipe her face on her sleeve, and Brigitte waited until she was done before putting her finger under Hana's chin and gently tilting her head up so that they could look face-to-face. "Hey," she murmured, "tell you what. Why don't we save that game, get into our pyjamas, and snuggle up for the night, and you can tell me some of  _ your  _ happy stories before we fall asleep, 'kay? How's that sound?"

Hana managed a small smile. "That sounds good."

Brigitte gave Hana's shoulder a gentle shake. "Okay. Go on over to your room and get changed, and come back when you're done. Just make sure you knock before coming in."

"Will do." Hana got up from the bed and made her way out of Brigitte's room, leaving the Swede temporarily alone with her thoughts. She closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh.  _ I really hope Hana's okay. It's hard to see her hurting so badly. It never even occurred to me that she could be carrying so much baggage, but it makes sense given everything she's been through. Skit, I feel awful for her. She deserves so much better. I just want her to be happy! I don't mind having to cheer her up and take care of her, but… Fuck, does it hurt to see her cry.  _

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. "Hey Brigitte?"

_ Skit!  _ Brigitte jumped up and quickly began to get changed into her pyjamas. "Just a second Hana! Sorry, I spaced out!"

"Oh, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine! Just… got a lot on my mind!"

"Right, with the mission tomorrow and everything."

"Among other things. You can come in now."

Hana opened the door to see Brigitte pushing the desk back into its spot, and climbed into her friend's bed. Brigitte finished up and climbed in after her. "Hang on," the Swede said pulling out her phone, "Let me just set my alarm for 7:30… that gives me just enough time for my morning prep before I need to get my armor and head to the shuttle dock, and… there!" She set the phone on her bedside table and lazily rolled over to snuggle up with Hana. "So, tell me a happy story."

"I… don't really know which one to tell you," Hana admitted sheepishly.

Brigitte closed her eyes. "Why don't you tell me the story of how you won your first championship?" She suggested with a smile.

"That?" Hana asked, surprised. "You can find that in like, every major esports magazine!"

Brigitte chuckled softly. "I don't want that prepackaged media stuff. I want  _ your _ story. You know, the  _ real _ one."

"Well, the  _ real _ story's kind of boring…"

"I don't care," Brigitte murmured, still smiling. "It'll be interesting because it's  _ you _ . Now shut up and tell me my bedtime story."

Hana chuckled. "Well, if you say so… I've been playing Mecha Guardian ever since I was a kid, but I didn't really start the ranked grind until about halfway through Mecha IV. I never spoke in voice chat because the few times I tried it didn't go well, but I hung around high plat until the very last season, when I finally broke into diamond. When Mecha V came out, I decided I finally wanted to start calling for my teams. So, I created the character Diva, with an 'i', as a sort of shield for all the toxicity. She was sassy to deal with the haters, a tease to deal with the creeps, and confident to rally the good players on her team behind her and lead them to victory. Over the course of a few seasons, I managed to climb from diamond, into masters, then GM, and finally top 500, where I started getting noticed by some of the teams in the Mecha Guardian League."

She was interrupted by the sound of a very soft snoring, and she looked at Brigitte to see her utterly asleep, her body relaxed and her breathing gentle and slow. "But I suppose that'll be a story for another time," Hana said to herself with a smile. She took out her phone and set the alarm to vibrate at 7:25, before snuggling back up with Brigitte, who instinctively latched on to her and pulled her close.

"Sleep well, Brigitte," Hana whispered, closing her eyes, and soon she found herself drifting off as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Skit" - "Shit" (Swedish)


	13. Chapter 13

"Brigitte? Brigiiiiiitte…"

Brigitte's eyes groggily fluttered open to see Hana looking at her with a warm smile in the dim glow of the room's artificial sunrise.

"H-Hana?" Brigitte mumbled. "Wha--what time is it?"

"7:29," Hana replied. "I figured that maybe you'd like waking up to me more than waking up to your alarm."

Brigitte smiled and lazily stroked Hana's hair. "Thank you, Hana, I do. That was very thoughtful."

Hana shrugged. "It was the least I could do after all your help yesterday."

"The  _ least _ you could do would be nothing," Brigitte corrected, running her finger down the bridge of Hana's nose and lightly booping the tip, causing her to scrunch up her face adorably. "Don't forget that."

Hana rolled her eyes with a smile. "Yeah, yeah," she dismissed. "Well, I felt like you deserved something nice."

"And I appreciate the gesture," Brigitte replied warmly. "It means a lot."

"You, uh… you might want to turn off your alarm by the way," Hana suggested. "Before it goes off and startles both of us."

"Good call," Brigitte grunted as she stretched her arm out to the bedside table and grabbed her phone. She held it up over her and turned off the alarm before accidentally dropping it on her face. She let out a sigh.

Hana laughed though, which made the clumsy mistake well worth it. "You're adorable," she said with a giggle.

_ Yep. Definitely worth it _ . Brigitte put her phone back on the bedside table and sat up. "As much as I'd love to spend a lazy morning with you, I  _ do _ have something very important I need to do today."

Hana sat up and dramatically clung to Brigitte's shoulders, pretending like she was trying to drag her back down. "More important than me?" She pouted.

Brigitte chuckled. "One of the only things that is," she replied, though she wrapped her arms around Hana as well and gave her a firm squeeze.

"Hmmmm," Hana said, pretending to think. "Fine. I'll let you go. But only if I can follow you around everywhere you go until you leave."

Brigitte raised an eyebrow. "Everywhere? Even the shower?"

Hana pulled away with a bright blush that, for once, Brigitte actually noticed. "Gongjeonghaji anh-a!" She spluttered. "You know what I meant!"

Brigitte laughed again. "Of course I do! But that was way too easy to pass up! Now, speaking of showers, I'm going to take mine and get changed into my clothes. I'll be back to do my hair and makeup though!"

"Okay!" Hana waited patiently as Brigitte gathered up her clothes and left the room. Brigitte rushed to the showers and quickly cleaned herself up, before changing and rushing back.

"That was quick!" Hana commented as Brigitte walked in, quickly biting her lip as she saw the Swede in her skin-tight black combat clothes.

Brigitte smiled and ruffled Hana's hair as she walked past to her dressing table. "Trying not to miss out on my last hour with you, Kanin," she said, before adding, "For a little while, at least." She grabbed her eyeliner and began to work on her cat-eye.

"Mind if I… help you with your hair?" Hana asked hesitantly. "It--it'd be quicker!"

"Go ahead!" Brigitte replied. She felt Hana's hands brush against her temples as she set aside the locks that would fall to either side of her face, and a thrill ran up her spine at the sensation.

"Sorry!" Hana exclaimed, pulling back as she saw Brigitte shiver. "Did that bother you?"

"No! No it didn't!" Brigitte replied. "I'm just… not used to other people doing my hair. I like it though! You can keep going!"

"Oh, okay!" Hana moved back in and clipped Brigitte's side locks in place before gathering the remainder of her hair at the back. Brigitte hummed at the pleasant feeling of Hana's hands running through her hair, gently tugging and pulling everything into place for her ponytail. "You know, you have really pretty hair," Hana murmured.

"Oh! Tack!" Brigitte said, blushing a little.  _ How do I respond to that? I need to compliment her back, but what do I say?? Do I say she has nice hair too?? Would returning the exact same compliment seem fake?? Would giving her a different compliment seem too flirty?? Skit, skit, skit! _ _   
_ Fortunately, Hana had already finished doing her hair and gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder. "All set," she said with a smile.

"Thanks for the help," Brigitte replied, finishing her makeup and standing up. "Now, after breakfast I just need to get my armor to the shuttle. You can help me with that if you want!"

"Sure!"

* * *

They arrived at the kitchen to find Angela and Genji on their way out. "Good morning, Angela!" Brigitte chirped. "Good morning, Genji!"

"Good morning, Brigitte," Angela replied. "You  _ do  _ know there's only 45 minutes until takeoff, right? We don't want you being late like last time."

Brigitte groaned. "Yes,  _ mom _ ."

Angela chuckled. "Just making sure. Have a good rest of your morning."

Brigitte and Hana made themselves breakfast and sat down next to each other at the table. After a few minutes, though, it became apparent that Hana had little interest in her cereal.

"What's wrong, Hana?" Brigitte asked, concerned. "You're just poking at your food."

Hana sighed and rested her chin on one hand, halfheartedly stirring the cereal with the other. "I'm just… nervous. Thinking. I've got a lot on my mind."

"Talk to me, Bunny," Brigitte said.

Hana shook her head. "You're on a time crunch. We don't have time for that right now."

Brigitte sighed. As much as she hated to admit it, Hana was right. She scooched herself over and wrapped her arm around Hana's shoulders, leaning over to comfort her. Hana remained where she was, but she leaned her head over against Brigitte's to return the affection. "Then we can talk about it when I get back," Brigitte offered. "But  _ please  _ take care of yourself while I'm gone. Eat plenty of food, get plenty of sleep, and try to have some fun, okay?"

"I will," Hana replied.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Good. You can start by finishing your breakfast here and now."

"Well, you're not gone yet, are you?" Hana replied, a hint of her normal sass returning to her voice.

"Shush. Eat."

Hana stuck out her tongue. "Fine. For you."

* * *

After eating their breakfasts, Hana and Brigitte made their way to the garage. As they walked in, Hana looked at her mech and sighed longingly. Brigitte followed her gaze and gave her a gentle rub on the shoulder. "No point in daydreaming, Kanin. Even if you could come with us, the new bearings for your fusion cannons still haven't arrived yet."

"They've got another mission or two in them," Hana replied. "But I see your point. I just… miss being in the cockpit…"

"Even with all it's done to you, you still look forward to it?" Brigitte asked, somewhat surprised.

Hana nodded. "I have to. Otherwise I'd dread going back in there. Besides, I live for the adrenaline rush. Whether that's through hoverbike races, crazy video game tournaments, or life-or-death battles with evil sea omnics, it's all kind of the same to me."

"Is it though?" Brigitte pried. "Hoverbike races and video games don't usually give people nightmares."

Hana pulled away from Brigitte's hand, leaving the Swede's heart to sink like a stone. "We don't have time for this, Brig."

"I'm sorry, Hana," Brigitte said softly. "I'm just trying to help."

"I know," Hana replied, and the small smile she gave put Brigitte's fears a bit more at ease. "But I'm gonna feel bad if I make you late for your flight. So let's grab your armor and get on over there, so that you don't get yelled at, 'kay?"

Brigitte let out a small sigh. "Yeah… I just… I hate not being able to make you feel better."

Now Hana set her hand on Brigitte's shoulder. "I'll be fine," she said with as much confidence as she could muster. "I promise. Now, which parts of your armor do you want me to take?"

* * *

They reached the launch pad and set down the armor pieces on the ground. Brigitte turned to Hana, well aware of the others watching her from the shuttle. "While I'm gone, my room is your room, too. If you want to play something on my PS4 or snuggle up with Sir Fluff, you're more than welcome to let yourself in. I won't mind."

Hana smiled. "Thanks, Brig. I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Now hurry up before Angela yells at you."

Brigitte nodded and gathered up all her armor pieces at once, grunting under their weight. "Thanks for helping me bring these out. I  _ definitely  _ couldn't have carried all of these all the way from the workshop in one go."

Hana giggled. "You're welcome." She stepped forward to give Brigitte a hug, but immediately thought better of it. "You… can come back for a hug after you put those all down."

"Good idea." Brigitte staggered onto the shuttle, leaving Hana to think for a few moments.  _ I have to tell her how I feel before she leaves _ , she decided.  _ It could be my last chance. Fuck, it's so scary, but I can't chicken out. I have to tell her. _

Inside the shuttle, Brigitte finished setting down her armor.

"Alright," Lena called back from the cockpit, "is everyone good to go?"

"Just one more thing!" Brigitte called back. She rushed back outside and into Hana's waiting arms, where they each held the other as tightly as they could. Nearly a minute passed, neither one wanting to be the first to let go, as Hana steeled herself for her confession. 

"Brigitte," she began softly, "If you don't come back, I--"

"Brigitte!" Angela called from the shuttle. "We're all waiting for you!"

Brigitte gently put her finger to Hana's lips. "Shh," she said gently. "Don't talk like that, Bunny."

"No," Hana pleaded, "There's just something I need to--"

" _ Brigitte!!" _

__ Brigitte looked at the dropship, then back at Hana, the distress of her choice clear in her eyes. "I  _ will _ be back, min lilla kanin," she said softly, giving Hana as tight of a squeeze as she possibly could before rushing back to the shuttle.

Hana watched as the doors closed and the shuttle's engines spooled up for takeoff, and as the wind began to whip at her clothes and hair, the crushing weight of her missed chance on her soul, she felt tears beginning to pool in her eyes. 

"You'd better be."

She stood there, watching the shuttle fly away until it was completely out of sight, before she was finally able to move. She felt her breath catch in her throat as tears began to run down her cheeks, and she fled back to Brigitte's room, where she curled up on her bed, clutching Sir Fluff. Fortunately for her, Sir Fluff had been Brigitte's primary snuggling companion for years, and he smelled of the same odd mix of grease and cinnamon that Hana had come to associate with the safety and security of her crush. Hana buried her tear-stained face in the stuffed animal's thick fur and breathed deeply, desperately trying to find comfort in that familiar scent. This was going to be a rough couple of days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Gongjeonghaji anh-a" - "Not fair!" (Korean)
> 
> "Tack!" - "Thanks!" (Swedish)
> 
> "Min lilla kanin" - "My little bunny" (Swedish)
> 
> Sorry that this one's a little on the short side. I didn't really have as much for it as I thought I did. Still, I hope you all enjoyed it!


	14. Chapter 14

It took some time, but eventually Hana was able to settle herself down. She sat up and wiped her face on her sleeve. "It's okay, Hana. It's just two days. Not even. She'll be back tomorrow night and everything will be fine. You can do this." She pushed her hair out of her face and looked around for something to pass the time. Her eyes settled on Brigitte's PS4 and she turned it on. She booted up Horizon Zero Dawn and wandered aimlessly for a few minutes, but it felt wrong to play without Brigitte at her side. She tried playing a couple of rounds of Starwhal, but although the AI put up an ample challenge, defeating her both times, it just felt painfully empty without Brigitte's beautiful voice playfully jabbing at her mistakes and laughing along at the absurdity of it all. With a heavy sigh she turned off the console and decided to go back to her room to play some Starcraft.

She got up to leave, but she paused, looking at Sir Fluff. "Brigitte will understand if I borrow you for a bit, right?" She said out loud. "Yeah… of course she would." She picked up the massive stuffed lion, which was almost as big as she was, and carried it into her room. She sat down in her chair and rested Sir Fluff in her lap as she booted up Starcraft and logged into one of her alternate accounts that nobody but her knew about. Hours melted away as she played. Normally when she played Starcraft she was able to tune out the rest of the world and focus on the game, but today she found it impossible to stop her mind from wandering. Match after match ended in a loss, but she wasn't playing to win. She was playing to distract herself. Unfortunately she wasn't doing a very good job of _that_ , either. Still, the game provided a familiar background noise while her mind whirred and sorted through everything it felt like thinking about. Eventually, she felt her stomach growl. She almost ignored it, but she remembered her promise to Brigitte. "Fine," she said aloud, after a brief mental debate with herself. "For her." She made her way to the Watchpoint kitchen and made herself some instant noodles.

* * *

The second half of the day passed much the same as the first. Hana halfheartedly played Starcraft while her mind buzzed away. She thought of her friends and family back in Korea. What they might think of her working with Overwatch once the news officially broke. What they might be up to right now. She thought of the Gwishin. Had they attacked since she'd left? How would MEKA handle them without her there? She thought of the other Overwatch agents, and of her simulated death during the training. But most of all she thought of Brigitte. She thought about how she was already starting to miss her after less than a day apart. About her unfairly beautiful face. Her warm, cozy hugs. Her wonderful laugh. The big, adorably dumb grin she got whenever she was happy. Her soft, gentle touch. Would she really be as safe on that mission as she said she was? How could she promise she'd be back from something so dangerous? How would she react to hearing how she felt about her? Would she even still have the courage to tell her how she felt when she returned?

Even after forcing herself to eat dinner and continuing to play for hours after, many of these questions remained unanswered by the time she went to bed. After two nights sleeping in Brigitte's comforting embrace, its absence left Hana feeling cold and alone. Sir Fluff provided some small comfort, but it wasn't enough to prevent Hana's sleep from being ravaged by terrible nightmares. She woke up in a cold sweat several times throughout the night, and more than once fell back asleep in tears.

* * *

Morning came, and Hana would have given anything to have Brigitte's arms around her again right then and there, to hear her softly cooing that everything would be alright. She lay in bed shaking for a few minutes, before she was finally able to pull herself together and get out of bed. _I should try and call my friends at MEKA to see what they're up to,_ she thought to herself as she halfheartedly ate a bowl of Lúcio-Ohs. _Maybe they can help keep me company while I wait for the others to come back._ She finished her breakfast, made her way back to her room, and fired up her computer for a video call to Dae-Hyun. It rang for about two seconds before he picked up and his face appeared on the screen.

"Hana?!" He asked, a look of pleasant surprise on his face. "It's so good to see you! Hey everyone! Hana's calling!" Hana heard the chatter of distant but familiar voices, and then the brief sounds of minor chaos, before four more faces crowded the screen.

"Dae-Hyun! Yuna! Kyung-Soo! Jae-Eun! Seung-Hwa!" Hana called out their names. "I've missed you guys!"

"We've missed you too!" Jae-Eun replied.

"Yeah! You promised you'd call us!" Seung-Hwa piped up.

Hana chuckled. Seeing her old friends had already improved her mood a lot. "Well I'm calling now, aren't I?"

"Well, don't keep us waiting," Yuna exclaimed, "what's it like working with Overwatch?!"

"It's awesome!" Hana replied. "Everyone here's so friendly, they really make me feel like I'm part of a family!"

"So when do we get to meet them?!" Seung-Hwa asked. "Can you bring one of them over right now?"

Hana looked away for a moment and sighed. "No, not right now," she said, looking back at the screen. "They're away on a mission right now, and MEKA said I'm not allowed to be seen working with them until they know that people wouldn't be angry about it."

"That sucks!" Kyung-Soo sympathised. "But I guess it does make sense. Not everyone remembers Overwatch fondly."  
"Yeah," Hana agreed.

"Come on Hana," Yuna whined, "You didn't finish answering my question! What are they like? Tell me about each of them one by one!"

"Well…" Hana thought for a moment. "There's Lena--uhh, Tracer. She's always so bright and cheery, and full of energy! There's Mercy, she's kind of like the mom of the team. Always tries to take care of us, never gets enough sleep. There's Mei, oh she's so nice. Really smart, too! There's Reinhardt; he's really loud but he's super friendly too. Winston's a genetically engineered gorilla from the moon, but he's really smart and nice. Kind of awkward sometimes though, but he means well. There's Genji, he's fun. He's all 'zen' and 'calm' and shit, but he's good at video games. Not as good as me, obviously, but good. Oh, and he's dating Ange--Mercy. And then there's Lúcio! Yeah, _the_ Lúcio, the DJ. He's awesome! He's one of my best friends here actually! Really chill dude! And lastly there's Brigitte. She's tall and _really_ strong, but she's also _super_ nice. She's the only one here around my age, _plus_ she's a grease monkey, _plus_ she's into retro games--she even has a PS4! She has red-brown hair and really pretty brown eyes, and freckles, and--"

"Sounds like our little bunny got shot with Cupid's bow, huh?" Yuna interrupted teasingly, prompting some giggles from the rest of the group.

Hana blushed. "Wha-- what makes you think that!?" she spluttered defensively.

Yuna smirked. "You just had this look in your eyes. Plus, you said at least three times as much about her as you said about anyone else, and you weren't even done!"

"That's-- I…" Hana sighed and slumped in her chair. "I mean, you're not wrong…" she admitted sheepishly. 

"You got a picture of her?" Yuna asked.

"No, but… you remember that article about the giant omnic that attacked Paris?"

Yuna looked confused for a moment. "I don't-- wait, yeah! Yeah, I do."

"She was there. You can see her in the photo."

"Hang on," Dae-Hyun said, "I'm pulling it up now. There, which one is she?"

"Front row, left side. In the yellow armor."

Several eyes widened on the other side of the screen. "Damn, Hana," Yuna murmured, "She's a good catch."

Hana sighed again. "Yeah, she definitely is… but I haven't caught her yet. I honestly don't know if I ever will…"

"You don't know if she likes you back?" Jae-Eun asked.

"I don't-- I mean, I think-- I…" Hana pushed back her hair and glanced away from the screen in distress. "I mean, I _think_ she might? But I also think she might _not_ ? Like, she's always _super_ nice to me and shit, but like…"

"Okay," Yuna said, pushing the others aside and taking over the center of the screen. "First thing's first. Is she gay?"

"Pan," Hana replied. "Like me."

"Good. That's a good start. Now, how often do you hang out?"

"All the time," Hana answered. "I think, since I came here, I've probably spent more time _with_ her than without her."

Yuna nodded. "Good, good. Do you usually ask _her_ to hang out, or does _she_ usually ask _you_?"

Hana looked upwards in thought. "I think… it's about 50-50? Maybe I've asked her a _bit_ more than she's asked me, but she's never said no."

Yuna nodded again. "I see. She always seems happy to spend time with you?"

Hana nodded. "Yeah, very."

"Excellent. Do you guys hug at all?"

Hana sat up a little. "Yeah, a lot! I mean, we didn't at first, but now we snuggle all the time!"

" _Snuggle_ , huh?" Yuna raised an eyebrow, and Hana blushed.

"Yeah, I mean… I've slept over with her a couple times, and we always cuddle in bed…"

"Sleepovers? Your idea or hers?"

"The first time was mine," Hana admitted. "I was having a really rough night and I needed some company. The second time… I mean, she was the one who technically brought it up, but I'd had another rough day so… maybe she felt bad for me."

"Hmm..." Yuna thought for a moment. "When you hug and cuddle, who usually initiates it?"

Hana's face lit up slightly. "Her! I mean, sometimes me, but usually her!"

Yuna snorted. "Hana, you're a fucking dumbass. You know that, right?"

Hana folded her arms. "I mean, duh, but what exactly are you referring to?"

Yuna chuckled and shook her head. "It's really that difficult? She _obviously_ likes you!" The others nodded in agreement behind her.

Hana hesitated. "You're not just saying that to make me feel better?"

Yuna's expression softened. "Hana, I know you're scared. But we wouldn't lie to you about something that's so important to you."

"Obviously we can't see into her mind, but from what you've told us it really seems like she likes you," Seung-Hwa chimed in.

"A lot," Jae-Eun added.

"The longer you wait to tell her, the more it'll hurt, and for no reason," Yuna said softly. "I don't want to see you do this to yourself. Please, when she gets back, just tell her. I'm positive you'll both be much happier for it."

Hana nodded slowly. "I will, Yuna."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

They talked for a time about other things, before Yuna, Dae-Hyun, and the others had to end the call for the night, leaving Hana alone with her thoughts once more. She checked the time. It was just past 3pm at Gibraltar, and she was starting to feel hungry again. The fact that it was only a few more hours until Brigitte was supposed to get home put a wind in her sails, and she ate her late lunch happily before settling in to do some gaming.

Hours passed, and the sun went down, but even by midnight there was no sign of Brigitte or the others. Hana was understandably nervous, but she decided to try and get some sleep. Brigitte would be there in the morning, surely.

* * *

After another rough night, Hana awoke Sunday morning, shaking, crying, and still very much alone. She forced herself to get dressed and wander the base in the vain hope that someone might be there, but there was still nothing. After eating the bare minimum of what could be called "breakfast," she returned to her room and pulled out her phone. Swiping through to Brigitte's contact, she started to compose a text, going through several drafts of various lengths and intimacy before finally settling on:

[I know you can't reply to this, but I just wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you, and I hope you're safe]

She hit "send," and was met the little flashing grey text underneath her message: **Sending… Sending… Sending… MESSAGE NOT DELIVERED.**

She felt her bottom lip begin to quiver. Of course it was possible that Brigitte's phone was just in airplane mode for the mission, but much worse things were possible as well. Thoughts of the worst began to flood her mind, crowding away all sense and reason, as tears began to flow down her cheeks. "Please come home Brigitte," she sobbed aloud. "I need you."

* * *

Monday came and went. Tuesday did the same, and yet, there was still no sign of Brigitte or the others. With each passing day Hana's fears only got worse. The thoughts of what might have happened to them were utterly unbearable, but Hana was powerless to stop them. Her nightmares got worse too, twisting and sharpening into new and horrible things. By Tuesday night she was afraid to sleep--petrified by the thought of what awaited her on the other end of closed eyes. 

Night faded into morning, and Hana was nearly broken. Her stomach ached from lack of food, and her head throbbed from dehydration from constant crying. She picked up her phone and saw her reflection in the screen, her eyes puffy, baggy, and bloodshot, and her skin pale and gaunt. She found Brigitte's contact and checked her texts; her last one still hadn't reached her. Shaking as fresh tears began to well up in her eyes, she began to type.

[Please, please come home. I'm so scared and alone. I'm sorry. I can't take it anymore. It's killing me. Please don't be dead. Please, god, please.]

As her tears started to fall on the phone screen, she pressed "send" and silently begged for the message to go through. When she looked back down at her phone, she was greeted by the same error as before.

**MESSAGE NOT DELIVERED.**

Clutching her phone to her chest, she fell over on the bed and curled up into a tight ball, sobbing uncontrollably. Grief, exhaustion, loneliness, hunger, fear… all these and more clawed at her mind, and as Wednesday began to fade away into the night, it was all she could do to hold her fraying thoughts together in some form of sanity. The thought of sleep terrified her, but her eyelids had long been heavy and she knew it was a losing battle. Panic creeped into her soul as she felt herself slipping… slipping… slipping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stayed up until the wee hours of the morning writing this one to get it out on time for all of you. Bit of a heads up: the next chapter is a very graphic nightmare sequence. It'll be a bit shorter than the usual chapters, and I know some people might not be comfortable with how graphic it will be, which is why it won't contain any actual plot points. If you want to be dragged off into angst-ville and have your heart broken for Hana, feel free to read it, but otherwise you're not missing anything important!
> 
> As always, I look forward to hearing what you thought of this chapter in the comments below!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning, this chapter is very dark. It contains some graphic scenes of blood and gore, and some disturbing imagery. If you are sensitive to those subjects, please skip this chapter. I believe that nobody should have to go through a potentially upsetting scene in order to enjoy what is otherwise a fairly mild story, which is why nothing in this chapter will be necessary to understand the plot of any future chapters. This chapter exists only as a vehicle for angst, nothing more.

Hana found herself back in her bed on the MEKA base, a familiar figure snuggled up beside her. "It's so nice to see your home, my love," Brigitte murmured softly, gently stroking Hana's hair.

Hana smiled. "It's so nice to share it with you," she replied.

Brigitte chuckled and planted a soft kiss on Hana's forehead.

"I love you, min lilla kanin."

Hana felt a wonderful warmth flood her body. "I love--"

She was interrupted by the horrible screeching of tearing metal as a massive metal tentacle with a claw at its tip burst through the ceiling of her room. Before she even had the chance to react, the claw grabbed on to Brigitte with the sickening _crack!_ of breaking ribs.

"HANA!!" Brigitte cried as the tentacle ripped her out of Hana's arms. Hana watched as the tentacle retracted, pulling Brigitte through the mangled, twisted mess of the ceiling, and she heard her shriek in pain as the sharp, ragged edges of the hole shredded her body apart on the way out, leaving behind dangling strips of bloody flesh.

"NO!!!" Hana screamed, throwing herself out of bed and looking up through the hole at the pouring rain outside.

She was sprinting down the hallway towards her mech now, alarms blaring all around the base. Walls twisted and turned, stretching away from her and cutting her off. Everywhere she looked, she could see torn spikes of metal bearing the bloody bodies of her friends at MEKA. Dae-Hyun, Yuna, and the others, all dead by the Gwishin. All because she'd failed to protect them. She could hear their anguished screams, their haunting voices drifting down the hallway, blaming her. But she kept running. She had to save Brigitte. She had to.

She rounded the corner into another hallway, this one filled with smouldering wreckage and bullet-riddled corpses piled on the floor. She recognized these, too. The frail frame of Lena Oxton, her spine snapped like a twig. The metal body of Genji Shimada, dented and corroded. The hulking form of Reinhardt Wilhelm, hundreds of open wounds oozing blood. Angela, Lúcio, Winston, Mei… all were there as well.

"This is your fault!" She heard Lena's ghostly voice call out accusingly.

"You were our friend!" Lúcio's voice agreed. "You were supposed to be there!"

"You have shamed yourself!" Reinhardt boomed.

"We trusted you!" Mei cried.

Their voices chased her through the hallway, nipping at her heels and grasping at her arms, but she kept running.

She was in her mech now, preparing to take off. She pushed her flight sticks forward and she flew out of the hangar, after the Gwishin. Sheets of blood-red rain fell from the sky as a howling wind lashed the drops against the windshield. Dozens of tentacles whipped around through the sky, tearing away chunks of the MEKA base. Behind her, Busan burned, thick black smoke billowing up into the sky, illuminated by the blanket of fire below. Distant screams echoed off the mountains behind the city, and further down the coast, not even the sanctuary had been spared destruction.

A squid-like Gwishin omnic slammed into her mech, sending her tumbling through the sky as its tentacles squeezed down. Thick armor plating groaned and buckled as Tokki's frame began to fail. In desperation, Hana reached for her pistol, but something had caught on her arm. A bit of Tokki's frame, bent inwards. She pushed against it, and though it had some give, it still wasn't enough to reach the pistol. She felt the cockpit collapsing around her, pinning her legs in place and pressing in against her chest, making it hard to breathe. She reached forward and pulled the pilot eject levers. Behind her, she heard a _bang!_ as the escape hatch blew off its hinges, but the cockpit was too damaged to allow her to escape.

The battered and flaming husk of her mech tumbled out of the sky with her in it, smashing into the water and sinking below the surface. Desperately, she struggled to escape as the light around her dimmed, but she was completely trapped. As she sank deeper and deeper, she felt her lungs failing…

Suddenly she was out of the water, suspended in the air somehow. The ghostly form of Brigitte towered over her, wounds appearing, changing, and disappearing on her body. "This is your fault, Hana!" She cried. "You weren't there for me! After all the help I gave you, this is how you repay me? Why was I even friends with you, anyways? All you ever did was whine and cry. It was fucking pathetic!"

"Brigitte I'm sorry!" Hana sobbed. "I wanted to come with you, I really did! But I couldn't!"

"Well it doesn't fucking matter why, does it? You should have been there! Like I was always there for you!" Metal tentacles wrapped around Hana's limbs, holding her in place. She struggled against them, but it only made it worse. "And now," Brigitte continued, "you get to live your life in peace and comfort, with food, and a bed, and a home, but I have to spend the rest of my days rotting in some ditch! Some friend you are!"

Hana felt something wrapping itself around her neck. A ghostly hand. She felt herself struggling to breathe as she desperately thrashed against her restraints, to no avail. With what little breath she could draw, she cried out for help, hoping that someone, _anyone_ would be there to save her...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully that wasn't too intense! I'm going to try to get the next chapter out in 1 week as well so that there isn't a delay in actual plot content, but I don't quite have all the details pinned down yet. I'll post an update on my tumblr, mekamecanic-trash, next week if I expect that I won't be able to make that deadline.


	16. Chapter 16

As the dropship took off from Gibraltar, Brigitte stood in the doorway, watching as the doors closed on the sight of her best friend, alone on the landing pad. _What could Hana have wanted to tell me?_ With a heavy heart, she made her way to the table and sat down, hanging her head and staring emptily at the ground. After a moment, she felt the cushion next to her sink down under the weight of a massive body, and an arm as big around as her waist wrapped around her shoulders.

"What's wrong, Brigitte?" Reinhardt asked softly. "You miss Hana already?"

"It feels wrong to leave her behind," Brigitte muttered in response.

"It's not a situation that _any_ of us are happy with," Angela agreed, sitting down on her other side. "But unfortunately we must follow MEKA's ruling on the matter."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it," Brigitte grumbled.

"Nor do the rest of us," Angela replied. "Brigitte, I know you care for her, but it's important that you don't let your feelings for her distract you on the--"

"It's a 13 hour flight, Angela," Brigitte snipped back. "I can spend a bit of it sulking if I want."

Angela sighed. "I just want to make sure you stay safe, liebling." She leaned back against the couch. "I remember going on a mission to King's Row with Lena, Reinhardt, and your father. That was about a year before I started dating Genji. At the time, I was actually dating Fareeha. I was in--"

"Ah!" Reinhardt chuckled. "I remember you two lovebirds! You were always--"

"Reinhardt," Angela chided, "I'm telling _my_ story right now. You're more than welcome to tell yours, _after_ I'm done."

"Sorry," Reinhardt mumbled sheepishly.

Angela turned back to Brigitte. "As I was saying, I was in much the same situation as you are now. Leaving behind a loved one who wanted desperately to come with me, while I went on a dangerous mission that I might not come back from. It's difficult--extremely. And I know it hurts. But you must not let it distract you. Staying focused is the best way to make sure you make it back to her in one piece. Besides, focusing your love into looking forward to your reunion will make you much happier than wasting it pining while you're apart."

Brigitte sighed. "You're right," she admitted. "I just--"

"Alright!" Lena chirped, zipping down from the bridge. "Autopilot's all set, and we--" she noticed Brigitte's expression and her tone softened. "Everything alright, luv?"  
"I just feel like shit for leaving Hana behind," Brigitte said. Lena made her way over to the couch, and Angela slid aside to let her sit next to Brigitte. "I know how much she wanted to come with us," Brigitte continued, "and I know she was still scared we might not come back. When I left her, it looked like she was about to cry…" Brigitte's voice started to shake a little. "She's all alone there! With nobody to comfort her if she gets scared!"

Lena put her arm around Brigitte's shoulders. "Hana's a big girl. I'm sure she can take care of herself."

Brigitte shook her head as she felt her throat tighten. "You haven't seen the things that haunt her like I have," she said. "It isn't fair for her to have to deal with that on her own!"

"It isn't," Lena agreed, "but we have no choice. This mission is important for all of us, including her. This _has_ to go well for us if we want MEKA to let her join us next time, which is why we need all hands on deck for this one. At this point, the best thing we can do for her is to make sure that this mission goes smoothly, and that we get home quick. If we stay focused and do our jobs like we've trained, we'll be back to her in no time."

* * *

The rest of the long flight to Cuba passed with little incident. An impromptu Hearthstone tournament resulted in some playful trash talk, but that was par for the course. As they entered Cuban airspace around 3:30pm local time, Lena took control back from the autopilot, and the team got themselves suited up.

The donning of her armor was always a complicated moment for Brigitte. While she was intimately familiar with the design and trusted it with her life, it nevertheless marked the entrance into the dangerous and unfamiliar territory of a fresh Overwatch mission--territory that there was a very real possibility she may never leave. As they approached Havana, their radios crackled to life.

"Ah, hello my friends!" A voice said, surprisingly calm considering all the gunfire that could be heard in the background. "Come to join the fun, eh?"

"Baptiste?" Tracer radioed back. "What the hell is going on down there?"

"It seems that Talon still hasn't gotten over me. They have me pinned down on the balcony of the theatre."

"Shit!" Tracer looked back at Brigitte and the others. "Change of plans! Brigitte, Reinhardt, Winston; you three drop in there first and try to make some room for Baptiste to get out. You're the best people we have for clearing space. I'll find a safe spot to land the dropship, and the rest of us will be with you as soon as we can! Got it?"

"Got it," Brigitte, Reinhardt, and Winston said in unison.

"Alright. Talon's going to have set up a perimeter around the area, which is why I need the rest of you with me. I'll need you to help defend the dropship while we come in to land, and to fight through the Talon infantry to regroup with Winston and the others."

"Are you ready to jump?" Reinhardt asked Brigitte with a broad grin on his face.

Brigitte looked down at the ground, nearly two dozen feet below. "Uhh, yeah," she said nervously. "Just gimme a sec."

"Ah! No time for standing around! There's glory to be won!"

Brigitte felt a massive hand clap her on the shoulder and knock her off balance, and she stumbled out the dropship door. "REINHARDT DU JÄVEL!" She shouted as she plummeted out of the dropship, landing with an "Oof!" on the road below. A split second later the ground shook as Reinhardt and then Winston landed next to her.

"Alright!" Reinhardt called out. "Let's move forward!"

As the three of them took off towards the theatre, they heard several Talon soldiers shouting, and after a split second nearly a dozen soldiers from the unit that was attacking Baptiste turned and opened fire in their direction. Several bullets clattered against Brigitte's armor, and she quickly raised her shield, seeing its glassy blue surface rippling as it absorbed the rounds. Next to her, Reinhardt wound up his hammer and swung it upwards, sending sparks flying as the bottom of the swing struck the ground, which ignited fuel from the rockets and sent a searingly bright arc of blazing fire barreling towards the soldiers. The Talon unit scattered, but three unlucky souls were too slow and fell to the ground in a smouldering heap.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Winston leapt in, landing on top of a pair of Talon soldiers and charging up his tesla cannon. Bright bolts of electricity ripped through the pack of soldiers, and four more collapsed, convulsing.

Brigitte fired up the boosters on her backpack, and she shot forward with her shield raised. She slammed into a soldier, the force of the impact stunning him. Before he could recover, she wound up her flail and struck him with a mighty rocket-propelled uppercut, knocking him off his feet and back into a wall. With the area cleared, she rushed up the stairs with Reinhardt and Winston to join Baptiste.

"So kind of you to drop in," Baptiste quipped over the gunfire as he fired a burst of rounds towards one of the soldiers.

"Well we weren't expecting such a warm welcome, that's for sure!" Brigitte replied, ducking behind a pillar as a burst of bullets zipped past her head and obliterated a potted plant.

Baptiste laughed. "It comes with the territory, does it not?"

"Baptiste," Reinhardt spoke up. "Have you learned anything new about Talon's plans?"

"I have," Baptiste replied, leaning out from behind cover and immediately ducking back as a bullet whizzed by. "But whatever they were up to, it seems they put it on hold as soon as they realized I was here."

"Looks like they're having trouble letting go," Brigitte quipped, before noticing several Talon troops pushing up the theatre's main stairway. "STAIRS!"

"Take care of them!" Reinhardt called out, raising his barrier towards the street. "I'll cover the other angle!"

"You got it!" Brigitte replied as she and Winston charged forwards, and Baptiste opened fire from behind them. As the first soldier reached the top of the stairs, he was met with a giant rocket-propelled mace to the face, sending him tumbling backwards down the entire flight of stairs and into several of his teammates.

"Nice shot!" Winston exclaimed.

"I've been working on that!" Brigitte replied with a grin. Together, they made quick work of the remaining soldiers and turned their attention back to the main road, just in time to see Tracer, Mei, Mercy, Lúcio, and Genji rounding the corner.

"Cheers, luvs!" Tracer's voice crackled through their earpieces as she and the others made quick work of the remaining Talon soldiers. "The cavalry's here!"

Brigitte, Baptiste, Reinhardt, and Winston regrouped with the others down on the street, where Baptiste was quick to greet his colleague. "It's good to be working with you again, Dr. Ziegler."

Mercy nodded. "And under better circumstances, too."

"So Baptiste," Tracer asked. "What've you managed to find out about Talon?"

Baptiste looked around, then said, "Walk with me." The team walked down the street in a closely-huddled pack, while Baptiste explained the situation in a low voice. "Talon has been receiving intel from a certain high-ranking politician for years, but recently that politician was forced out of office due to some scandals. Talon… doesn't like loose ends. Before they realized I was here, they intended to take care of him quietly--"

Brigitte suddenly became aware of a very small hand tugging at her sash, and she looked down to see a small boy holding a flower. "Um, e-excuse me, miss?" He stammered nervously.

The rest of the group paused as Brigitte knelt down to talk to the boy. "Yes?" She asked softly. "What is it?"

"A-are you Overwatch?"

Brigitte looked back up at the rest of the group, and Tracer gave her a small nod. "Yes," Brigitte said, looking back at the boy with a gentle smile. "We are."

The boy's face practically lit up. "Then you're the good guys! You helped us! Those scary men were doing bad things here. Thank you so much!" He paused, then handed her the flower. "When I grow up, I want to be a big, strong knight like you!"

Brigitte felt a slight blush creep into her cheeks. She'd never had a fan before, and she wasn't quite sure how to handle it. _I wish Hana was here. She'd know exactly what to say._ She zoned back in to see the young boy still holding out the flower with a starstruck look in his eyes. "You know," Brigitte said, accepting the gift, "I was just like you once, so I know for sure that someday you'll grow up to be an even better knight than me!"

The boy looked up at her in awe before suddenly flinching as a woman's voice called out, "Daniel! Get back inside! It's not safe out here!"

The boy looked down sadly. "Mommy wants me to go," he said, "but it was nice meeting you, Lady Knight!" And with that, he took off back down the road towards his mother.

"It would seem our young squire has been knighted," Reinhardt chuckled proudly as Brigitte stood back up. Brigitte looked away from the group to hide her blush.

"Hey luv," Tracer said, "May I see that flower?"

"S-sure," Brigitte replied, turning back to face the group and handing the flower to Tracer, who reached up on her tippy toes to gently tuck the flower into Brigitte's hair.

"There!" The Brit giggled with a wink. "Now you're a _princess_ knight!"

Brigitte flushed bright red, but she couldn't contain her smile.

"We seem to have already left a good impression on the locals," Baptiste commented. "Many of the Talon soldiers have taken to looting and vandalism--there is no love for them here. If we can drive out Talon's forces, there's no doubt that the people of Havana will support our cause."

"And how do we do that?" Tracer asked.

"It won't be easy," Baptiste replied. “Most of you aren't particularly stealthy, so sneaking in is out of the question. The good news is that Talon wasn't expecting very much resistance while they were here, so their numbers are rather small. Even smaller now, after they came for me. Their leader is holed up in the old sea fort, so our best course of action is to push through the old distillery and fight our way to the sea fort doors."

"How do you plan on getting through the doors?" Winston asked. "Last time we were here, there was a truck full of explosives in the distillery. We can't count on that kind of luck again."

Baptiste chuckled. "Let's just say I know a shadow who'll make sure they're unlocked for us."

Tracer frowned. "You're trusting _her_?"

"We're good friends," Baptiste replied confidently. "She wouldn't turn her back on me."

"You'd better be right about that," Tracer muttered.

"Well, if everyone's ready, I say we strike while the iron is hot," Winston suggested. Everyone nodded their agreement. "Alright team, let's do this!"

* * *

They entered the distillery to find it utterly abandoned. "I have a bad feeling about this…" Winston murmured.

"Yeah," Tracer agreed. "It's too quiet."

"Last time we were here, we were ambushed," Genji said.

"Talon has relatively limited resources in the area at the moment," Baptiste said. "It's likely that they've decided to fall back and hold at the fort, since it's easier to defend."

"Even so," Reinhardt warned, "We should be on our toes here."

They rounded a corner to find the back door of the distillery wide open. The control panel seemed to be displaying some sort of error code. The dim light of the evening sunset illuminated the area, and a firm breeze blew in with the salty smell of the ocean.

"I don't like the look of that sunset," Reinhardt murmured.

"There's a major storm expected to hit the area tomorrow morning," Baptiste explained, "but the weather will hold for tonight."

"Shit…" Tracer muttered.

"What?" Brigitte asked worriedly.

"The shuttle took a few hits during the landing," Tracer replied. "It's not fit to fly in bad weather right now. Nothing we can't repair here, but… we may not get the repairs done before the storm hits. It might be a few days before we can head home."

Brigitte felt her heart drop into her stomach as the others began to discuss. _Hana…_ After a moment, she was startled by a hand on her shoulder.

"Will you be okay?" Mercy asked, softly enough that the others couldn't hear.

"I… I have to be," Brigitte replied.

"Try not to lose focus. It is better for you to return to her late, than not at all."

"I know…" Brigitte said quietly.

"I'll be keeping an extra close eye on you," Mercy reassured. "I won't let anything happen to you."

The group exited the distillery with weapons raised and eyes peeled. "I don't see anyone," Tracer commented.

"This is getting scary," Mei whimpered softly.

"Be brave, Mei," Lúcio reassured her. "You've got this."

As they passed a crumbling old watchtower, Brigitte saw a flash of metal in the corner of her eye. "Everyone look out!" She called out, but before she'd finished saying the words, the entire group was enveloped in a thick cloud of white smoke.

"Keep your guard up!" Reinhardt barked.

"Huddle together!" Winston ordered. "This will protect us!" A bright blue light lit the fog as his barrier projector fired up and a hard-light dome began to form above their heads.

At the same moment though, Brigitte heard the distinctive _crack!_ of a high-powered rifle, and she cried out as a bolt of searing pain ripped across her right cheek. Warm blood began to run down her face from the wound as Winston's barrier finished deploying around her.

"Brigitte!" Mercy called out, "Are you alright?!"

"Rrrgh, I'm fine!" Brigitte replied, gritting her teeth against the pain. From somewhere in the smoke, she heard the faint rhythm of Lúcio's healing beat start up, and she felt the pain in her cheek dull somewhat. Outside of the barrier, she could hear bullets bouncing off its surface as the wind finally began to blow away the smoke. 

"Barrier's running out!" Winston warned as the smoke faded to reveal large cracks forming in its surface. Outside, nearly a dozen Talon soldiers surrounded the bubble, hammering it with gunfire.

"Get ready!" Baptiste said.

"Watch for that sniper!" Brigitte called out. She could feel the blood from her wound starting to roll down her neck.

"I see her! In the building up the hill!" Tracer called back. "Genji! With me! Reinhardt, cover the angle!"

"I'm on it!" Reinhardt deployed his massive blue shield as Genji and Tracer took off towards the building. A split second later, Winston's barrier shattered, and all hell broke loose. Bullets flew every which way, ricocheting off of armor and bouncing off of shields, and in the chaos Brigitte couldn't keep track of anything outside of her own mace. As she swung it around and felt it smashing into the bodies of the Talon soldiers, the adrenaline pumping through her body made her forget about her pain. Vaguely, she felt biotic particles swarming around her as well, accelerating the natural healing of her wound. 

Within seconds, the initial fight was over as the Talon forces were crushed by the overwhelming force of nine well-trained Overwatch agents. There was hardly a second to breathe, though, as more Talon soldiers came rushing down the hill.

"Push forward!" Reinhardt boomed as he began to march up the hill, his barrier holding strong against the renewed hail of gunfire.

"Sniper won't be a problem anymore!" Tracer's voice buzzed in over their earpieces. 

The team collided head-on with the second wave of soldiers, and again Brigitte's lack of experience with fighting as part of such a large group came to light. She missed swings when she shouldn't have, and blows landed on her that she should have blocked. She started getting frustrated with herself. She needed to be better than this, for Hana's sake. On top of that, the wound on her cheek had split open again, and blood was starting to soak into the collar of her undershirt. As the final soldier in the second wave fell, she shook her head, trying to clear her mind.

Mercy seemed to notice this. "Brigitte," she began, "are you--"

"Watch out!" Tracer exclaimed. "Assassin!"

"Where?" Mei gasped.

"I don't know," Tracer admitted. "I only caught a glimpse of her! Keep your eyes peeled!" By now, the sun had nearly fully set, making it even harder to see in the dim light.

Baptiste reached behind his back and pulled out what looked like a very thick frisbee. He held onto it tightly.

"There!" Lúcio cried out. "I saw her! Up on the archway! … I think."

Suddenly, Brigitte heard what sounded like blades scraping along the dirt. At that exact moment, Baptiste tossed his frisbee-like device onto the ground and it bounced upwards, deploying into some kind of drone that emitted a bright light. A split second later, Tracer cried out as the Talon assassin knocked her to the ground, sinking her blades into her stomach.

"Get off of her du skitstövel!" Brigitte snarled, raising her shield and shoving the assassin off of Tracer's body. The rest of the group made quick work of the assassin, and turned back to Tracer, who was struggling to stand up--grievously wounded, but alive. "This'll make you feel better," Brigitte said, grabbing a biotic armor pack from her waist and tossing it at Tracer. The pack burst apart in the air, releasing a mist of biotic particles that quickly went to work healing the wound. Once there was nothing left to heal, the remaining particles bonded together and attached themselves to Tracer's body, forming a tough but flexible damage-resistant coating.

"Thanks," Tracer said, and for the first time Brigitte had ever seen, the veteran Overwatch agent seemed shaken. "I thought for sure I was dead there."

"You would have been," Baptiste replied gravely as his drone dropped out of the air into his hand. "If not for this."

"You managed to get it working after all," Mercy commented. "It's a good thing you did."

"The sea fort is just ahead," Genji said. "We'd best keep moving."

"It's likely that we'll be dealing with a heavy assault in that courtyard," Winston warned. "Is everybody ready?" The group nodded in agreement. "Then let's go."

As they walked forward, Mercy quietly pulled Brigitte aside. "Are you sure you're okay?" She asked.

"I'll be fine," Brigitte replied, as much to herself as to Mercy. _I don't have a choice._

As they entered the courtyard, they heard an almost inhuman roar, and the sea fort doors burst open. Two enormous figures marched out, both winding up dual gatling guns.

"Stay behind me!" Reinhardt boomed, deploying his massive barrier just in time to block the storm of incoming bullets. "Brigitte!" He barked over the noise as the other Overwatch agents began returning fire, "If one of those things charges at us, we need you to use your shield bash to stop it! I can't drop my shield to counter-charge!"

"Focus on the left one first!" Tracer added as an order to the whole team. "The quicker we take one of them out, the easier it'll be to handle the other one!"

"Got it!" Brigitte replied. She wound up her flail and whipped it at the heavy assault. Even with the force behind the rocket-propelled strike, the enormous man didn't even budge.

Fortunately, in spite of the heavy assault's thick armor, the concentrated fire of all nine Overwatch agents was quickly taking its toll. As a last desperate effort, the wounded heavy assault lowered his weapons and charged forward. In response, Brigitte raised her shield and charged up the boosters in her backpack, shooting herself forward and colliding head-on with the heavy assault. The force of the impact stopped the heavy assault in his tracks, but it also knocked Brigitte over backwards. She had fallen over in training with Reinhardt plenty of times, but this time was different. Perhaps the stresses of the day weighed just a little too much on her mind, or perhaps it was simply a chance mistake, but either way, she felt her head strike the ground hard. 

Dazed, she struggled to stand. Vaguely, she was aware of the first heavy assault unit collapsing to the ground in front of her. She heard shouting behind her, but her brain wasn't working right. She saw a flash of movement as the remaining heavy assault unit raised his arm to strike, and before she could react an enormous gatling gun struck her squarely in the stomach, knocking the wind clear out of her lungs and sending her flying backwards through the air. She felt a sharp pain in the back of her head as she struck one of the sea fort walls, and then she was out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long delay! I kind of fell out of the Overwatch mood for a bit there, but I'm back now! As always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments!


	17. Chapter 17

Brigitte came to in a bed in a dimly-lit and unfamiliar room. Wind howled outside and she could hear rain pounding against the windows. A dull pain throbbed in her head and she let out a groan as she shifted to get a better look at her surroundings. Behind her, she heard a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness you're awake luv," a familiar british voice said quietly. "You had us worried."

"What… what happened?" Brigitte asked, rolling over in her bed to face Lena. She brushed her hair out of her eyes, and realized that it had been taken out of her usual ponytail and now fell freely around her face. Lena had ditched her combat accessories and was sitting in only her orange bodysuit. Her chronal accelerator sat on a table nearby, emitting a faint blue glow.

"After you passed out we managed to take care of the heavy assault unit. Once it was clear, Reinhardt and Angie brought you back here so that you'd be safe. The rest of us took care of the Talon captain inside the sea fort. It's probably best you don't know the details. It got… messy." Lena let out a heavy sigh, and in the dim light Brigitte realized that the Brit looked  _ very  _ tired.

"Does that mean… does that mean Hana won't be able to come with us next time?" Brigitte asked, feeling a pit form in her stomach.

Lena shook her head. "What happened inside the sea fort stayed there, fortunately. It's too soon to say for sure how the public and news will react, but we got rid of a major problem for the people around here, and we did it quickly and with minimal collateral damage. It's hard to imagine anyone reacting negatively to that."

Brigitte moved to prop herself up on her elbow, groaning involuntarily as her entire body ached from the movement. She looked around the small room; she and Lena were the only ones there. "Where are the others?"

"Asleep," Lena replied. "We're in the hideout Baptiste was using. We're going to ride out the storm here and then make the necessary repairs to the shuttle to get us back home."

Brigitte frowned. "How… how long was I out?"

"A few hours," Lena replied. "It's about 3 in the morning right now. You took a pretty bloody hard hit. You're lucky you got Torbjörn's thick head; a hit like that could easily have…" Lena trailed off, but Brigitte knew what she meant, and it weighed heavily on her heart.

The Swede looked down at the floor in shame. "Lena?" She asked quietly after a moment.

"What is it, luv?"

"Can you promise me something?"

"Of course."

"Promise me…" Brigitte felt her breath catch in her throat, as tears of guilt began to burn in her eyes. "Promise me you won't tell Hana what happened to me here. I don't…" She had to take a moment to steady her voice. "I don't want her worrying about me when we get back. She has enough to deal with as it is." She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head, forcing herself to stay composed. 

She felt the bed sag as Lena sat down next to her and began rubbing her shoulder comfortingly. "I promise."

Brigitte only nodded in response, focusing on steadying her breathing.

"Let it out, luv," Lena urged. "It's okay."

Brigitte shook her head. "I'll be fine," she said, in a voice that very much proved otherwise.

"If you keep bottling up all your pain, it's gonna explode someday," Lena chided.

"You sound like my mother," Brigitte replied as she opened her eyes again, her voice a bit more under control now. "Or Angela."

"They're smart people, both. You ought to listen to them more."

"And now you sound like Pappa."

Lena sighed. After a moment, she asked, "Are you afraid to lean on us because you feel the need to prove yourself?" 

Brigitte pulled away from Lena's hand. "Lena, can we drop this for tonight please?"

"If you wish." Lena stood up and made her way to the table to pick up her chronal accelerator. "I need to get some rest anyways. Have a good night, luv."

"You too, Lena."

With that, Lena left the room and closed the door behind her, and Brigitte found herself alone. Fighting the aching and stiffness in her body, she laid back down and curled up, carefully measuring her breathing to fight off tears and clinging tightly to her pillow, wishing with all her soul that it had been Hana in her arms right now instead.

* * *

Brigitte wasn't sure what time it was when she woke up again. Her dreams immediately following missions were always bad, but tonight's had shaken her deeply. It was all she could do to hold herself together as she sat up, her entire body still aching from the previous day. The room was a bit brighter now but still quite dim, but she could hear the muffled voices of her teammates talking in the other room. Outside, the storm had only gotten worse. Sheets of rain ran down the room's lone window, the wind roared angrily, and a sudden crash of thunder caused her to jump. At least, she  _ hoped  _ it was thunder. After a mission she could never quite be sure.

She reached her hand up to touch her cheek. She didn't actually have any idea what the wound looked like, and as she traced her finger along the faintly raised skin she winced. It felt like it looked pretty bad. The wound itself didn't hurt so much as the thought of Hana seeing it did. She could only hope that it would finish healing before she arrived back in Gibraltar. With considerable pain she managed to stand up, and she made her way out of her room to meet the others.

The building looked to be a large, abandoned residential home. It would have been quite nice once, with a large, open main living area, plenty of wood, and a very ornate main staircase, but now it sat in a rather poor state of decay. The paint on the walls was cracked and chipped, and the varnish on the wood was peeling and flaking. The floor looked to have settled unevenly, and several of the windows were boarded up with plywood. In the center of the room, three large couches surrounded a medium-sized coffee table, with a dated laptop playing what sounded like a news report on top of it. Everyone was sitting in the couches except for Lena, who didn't appear to be in the room. Brigitte figured she was probably still asleep.

"Brigitte!" Reinhardt said. "Good to see you back on your feet!"

Mei hopped up from the couch and rushed over to Brigitte to hug her. "We were all so worried about you!"

Brigitte winced as the hug only made her already sore body ache even more painfully, but she did her best to return the embrace.

"You're lucky that you're on a team with two trained medical professionals," Angela said gravely, as Mei released her and returned to the couch. "That was a nasty hit. Poor Lena was prepared to stay up all night watching over you so that we could sleep soundly."

Brigitte hung her head. "I'm really sorry for putting you all through that," she said, guiltily. "I guess I let my feelings distract me. I promise I'll be better from now on."

"You are only human," Genji replied comfortingly. "Mistakes are a part of life."

"It's an error that all of us make from time to time," Baptiste agreed. "Even the best of us."

"Thanks," Brigitte said. She made her way to one of the couches and sat down between Lúcio and Mei. "Did Lena tell any of you what we talked about last night?"

"No," Angela replied, as the others shook their heads as well. "Either she didn't want to wake us up, or she was too tired to talk. Either way, we all knew you were going to be okay when we saw her passed out on her bed this morning. She would never have left you otherwise."

Brigitte looked down at the table for a few moments. "I don't want Hana to know what happened to me here. She's already so worried about us, and she'll be even more concerned when we don't get back tonight. If she finds out I got hurt, that only proves to her that she was right to be scared. She…" Brigitte had to take a moment to force her emotions to settle. "She doesn't need another reason to be afraid."

Angela nodded. "I'm inclined to agree. Hana is strong, and she hides her trauma well, but it doesn't take a medical professional to know that what she's gone through at her age leaves scars that will never fully heal. It will be best for her to believe the mission went by without incident."

The others nodded in agreement, and Brigitte felt as though a small weight had been lifted from her shoulders. "Thank you."

"That reminds me," Angela added, "May I see your cheek, Brigitte? I'd like to see how the wound is healing."

"Of course." Brigitte stood up and followed Angela to a place where the lighting was acceptable. "Will it scar?" Brigitte asked quietly as she inspected the wound.

"Only slightly," Angela answered, holding Brigitte's jaw in place with one hand and taking out a small, wet pad from her pocket with the other and wiping it along the wound. "So long as you don't pick at it, it should be nearly invisible in a few days."

"Will Hana be able to see it?"

Angela chuckled. "If she continues stealing glances at your face as much as she has been, I have no doubt." The comment caused Brigitte to blush, and Angela raised an eyebrow. "You haven't noticed?"

"W-wait," Brigitte stammered. "Do you mean she actually  _ likes _ me?!"

"That is not for me to tell," Angela replied, prompting a loud groan of frustration from Brigitte. "But to return to your wound; if it heals well, and I expect it will, it will likely take her a few days before she actually notices it. That gives you plenty of time to decide what you want to tell her." With that, Angela finished her examination and released Brigitte's jaw. "You must be hungry. Help yourself to the food in the kitchen. The bad weather isn't going to let up until Monday afternoon, so we'll all be in here a while."

* * *

The food selection was disappointing, even for a secret hideout in the middle of an abandoned house, but it was at least better than an empty stomach, albeit marginally so. Once Brigitte had finished eating, she made her way back to the living area, where someone had managed to dig up an absolutely ancient board game, and the team was preparing to play.

"Yo, Brig!" Lúcio called out. "We were just about to start a match! Wanna join?"

"Sure!" Brigitte replied, sitting down next to him. "How do I play?"

"The rules are pretty simple. We each have a piece we need to get to the end of the board. When it's your turn, you roll two dice, add them together, and move forward that many spaces. If you roll the same number on both dice, you can choose to reroll, but you have to use the second roll even if it's worse. If you land on top of someone else's piece, they go back to the beginning. The playing order is Winston, Reinhardt, me, you, Mei, Baptiste, Genji, and Angela."

"Sounds like fun!" Brigitte said.   
"Everyone ready to start?" Winston asked.

The others nodded, and the game began. The table maintained a mostly idle chatter as Winston took an early lead before being sent back to the start by Mei. Eventually, though, some lucky rolls brought him back into the thick of things, and Brigitte decided to speak up about something that had been on her mind.

"Winston, there's actually something I need to ask you," she said, rolling her dice. "Eight."

"What is it?" Winston asked as Brigitte moved her piece.

"You know that movie that's coming out at the end of the week,  _ Hero Of My Storm _ ? The one that Hana's in?"

While she spoke, Mei rolled her dice. "Ten," she announced quietly, moving her piece forward.

"I remember hearing about it," Winston replied as Baptiste took his turn. 

"Well, Hana wants to bring me to see it with her," Brigitte explained. "...In Busan."

"So you need leave to go to Busan to watch a movie?" Winston asked as Genji rolled his dice.

"Double twos," Genji said. "I roll again." He tossed the dice, which landed on a one and a two. "Dammit."

"When you put it that way, it does sound kind of silly…" Brigitte admitted with a sheepish disappointment. 

"Come now, Winston," Angela chided as she took her roll. "Nine." She moved her piece forward. "Let the girls have their fun. They're still young, after all; they could use a break."

"Besides," Reinhardt added as Winston quietly took his turn, rolling double sixes and taking the lead once more. "It might be good for those two to finally go on a date!"

Brigitte blushed brightly. "Th-that's not what it is!!" She stammered. "A-at all!!"

Reinhardt merely cackled as he took his turn. "Seven." He moved his piece forward, landing on top of Winston's piece. "Sorry, old friend."

Winston sighed as he returned his piece to the start of the game board for the second time. "Well," he said after a bit of thought. "I suppose it can't hurt. I'll allow it."

Brigitte gave a thankful smile. "Thank you, Winston."

The game continued for several more rounds of play. Incredibly, Winston once again caught up, and even found himself in the lead. A couple rounds of play later, he finished his turn just a single space away from the end. Reinhardt, Lúcio, Brigitte, Mei, and Baptiste all took their turns, but none were able to catch up to him. As Genji made yet another low roll and finished his turn at the back of the pack, and Winston's victory was all but assured, they heard a creaking from the stairs, and they looked up to see Lena slowly making her way down, holding her chronal accelerator loosely by her side. "Mornin', luvs," she said with a yawn. "Sleep well?"

"You missed the news report," Reinhardt said cheerfully. "They spoke quite highly of us."

"Great," Lena said, and in spite of her complete lack of energy, it was clear that she was happy to hear the news. "Hopefully it'll be enough to satisfy MEKA." She trudged her way to the kitchen. "Do we have any tea? Hell, I'd even take coffee."

"Second cabinet from the right, above the stove," Baptiste replied. 

Angela muttered something under her breath about being frightened of the idea of Lena on caffeine, and rolled her dice. "Twelve. Unfortunately, that means you're going home again, Winston."

Winston groaned. "I'm not sure I like this game..."

* * *

As evening fell, Brigitte sat on the sill of a bay window in an isolated part of the house, absent-mindedly fiddling with the flower the boy had given her. The constant pounding of the rain and wind outside formed a calming white noise while she lost herself in thought. _ It'll be midnight in Gibraltar now… I really hope Hana is okay. She must be lonely there all by herself. I miss her so much… I wish there was a way I could tell her I'm okay, but…  _ She set the flower aside and took out her phone. Her thumb hovered on the power button.  _ How much trouble would I get in if I turned it on, just for one text? _ She sighed, feeling her heart ache.  _ Too much. The rule exists for a reason. _ She started to put her phone back into her pocket, but she caught a flash of her reflection and curiosity got the better of her.

Her makeup was slightly smudgy from almost crying a few times, but it was still reasonably presentable. She still hadn't put her hair back up--with everything that had been going on it had simply slipped her mind. She angled her phone to get a better look at the wound on her cheek. Angela's biotic healing had helped a great deal, but there was still a decent-sized pink line running from right next to her nose almost back to her ear. When she had been younger, the thought of battle scars like Reinhardt's had thrilled her. But now, it was just a reminder of her foolishness. She prayed that it would fade before she returned to Gibraltar; she had no idea what excuse she could give Hana if she ever noticed it.

And just like that, it all came back to Hana. Brigitte still couldn't get her mind off of her. She put her phone back in her pocket and picked up the flower again, clutching it to her chest as she leaned back and squeezed her eyes shut.  _ It's so dumb that being away from her hurts this much, _ she lectured herself.  _ You're 24, you should be able to handle spending a few days away from a hopeless crush.  _ But that was the other thought eating at her mind.  _ Is it hopeless? She's so far out of my league it's not even funny, but everyone is always acting like she likes me for some reason. And… part of me thinks she actually might. But I can't tell if that's just wishful thinking! I mean, she's said and done things that  _ could  _ be flirting, but am I only seeing it that way because I want it to be? Why can't anyone just come out and say whether she likes me or not? Why do they all have to toy with me??  _ A pang of guilt struck at her heart.  _ Come on Brig, stop being an ass. You  _ know  _ they're not toying with you. This is something you have to do yourself; you're just being selfish like always! _

__ She jumped and let out a small squeak as a massive explosion shook the old house, and it was a full four seconds before she realized that it was thunder. Her heart pounding, she pulled her legs up and held them against her chest, tucking her head down between her knees.  _ I wish you were here, Hana. I miss you…. I need you. _

She was startled again when the wood underneath her creaked from the weight of another person sitting down across from her. She glanced up to see Baptiste sitting on the other end of the windowsill, gazing out the window. "The thunder can be frightening, non?"

"Only because I'm a wimp," Brigitte replied gloomily.

"It frightens me too, sometimes," Baptiste said. "Would you call  _ me  _ a wimp?" His tone was warm and gentle. It almost reminded Brigitte of the tone she had used to comfort Hana just a few nights before.

"No…" Brigitte admitted quietly, looking down at her flower and absent-mindedly spinning it back and forth between her fingers.

"Then why do you call yourself one?"

Baptiste's tone was kind and soft, but his words struck at a part of Brigitte that the young woman had been ignoring for a long time. She couldn't find a way to escape it anymore though… and maybe she didn't actually want to.

"I… I don't know," she said softly.

"You're new to this whole team, yes?" Baptiste asked. "Could it be that you feel the need to justify your place here?"

"You'd make a good therapist," Brigitte observed.

Baptiste let out a genuine chuckle. "You're dodging the question, zanmi."

Brigitte sighed. "I guess… I guess that  _ is  _ part of it. I mean, I grew up looking up to these guys. They may have been my friends, but they were my role models, too. When I was a kid, I wanted to join Overwatch and be a hero, just like them. But… I don't know. I guess… it always felt like a dream. Deep down, I  _ knew  _ it wasn't actually something I'd ever get to do. So now that I'm actually  _ here _ … it doesn't feel like I deserve it… or something."

Baptiste nodded. "It's a tough feeling to shake."

"Got any tips?" Brigitte asked.

"Remember that you're no different from anybody else here. If your places were switched--if you had been on the original team, and saw a new person coming in, one with the same talent, skill, heart, and dreams as you have now, would you say they belonged here?"

"I… I guess I would…" Brigitte admitted. She spent a moment fussing with a loose paint chip on the wall, and sighed. "You make it sound so easy."

Baptiste chuckled again. "It isn't. Getting over that kind of self-doubt takes a long time. But for what it's worth, I think you fit right in."

Brigitte managed a small smile. "Thanks."

A few more moments passed before Baptiste nodded at the flower in Brigitte's hands. "You thinking of giving that to someone?"

Brigitte suddenly blushed. "I mean… I…" In truth, the thought hadn't actually crossed her mind, but now that Baptiste had put it there, she couldn't get rid of it.

"You don't have to say if you don't want to," Baptiste said with a warm smile.

Brigitte shook her head. "There's no point in not telling. It's the worst-kept secret I've ever had. Maybe in history." She sighed. "There's this new girl who just joined the team. Well, she's more on loan to us. She's… got a lot of credentials--"

"MEKA pilot, professional gamer, and war hero, right?" Baptiste said, laughing at the look of surprise on Brigitte's face. "Yes, I know about that deal." He leaned back against the side of the window frame. "So  _ she's _ the one who caught your eye, huh?"

"I've had a crush on her ever since I first started watching her streams," Brigitte admitted. "I still remember the first day we met in person." She winced. "I was  _ really  _ awkward. But she was so cool about it. We talked gearhead stuff about her mech, and she offered to let me help work on it. Then I helped her unpack, and…" And so Brigitte rambled on about her times with Hana since the MEKA pilot had arrived at the base, intentionally leaving out anything personal that she thought Hana might not want shared. "...And then the shuttle doors closed. And after that, well… here I am." She looked out the window and sighed. "I know. Hopeless crush, right?"

To Brigitte's surprise, Baptiste let out a hearty laugh. "There you go again!" He said.

"What?" Brigitte asked, genuinely confused.

"Something you've dreamed about for a long time is coming true right before your eyes, and yet you insist that you're not good enough for it!"

Brigitte blushed brightly. "A-are you saying you think she likes me?? H-how can you be so sure?? I mean, you only know what I've told you! M-maybe it just sounded like that because I wanted--"

"Calm down, sister!" Baptiste laughed. "Yes, I only know what you've told me, and what you've told me sounds pretty clear. And I think, deep down, you know the real answer."

Brigitte shook her head. "I don't!" She said, her distress beginning to show in her voice. "I really don't!"

"If you were on the outside looking in, watching two people talk to each other the way she and you talk, what would you think?"

"I can't trust myself to think that impartially!" Brigitte pleaded.

Baptiste leaned forward and put a hand on Brigitte's shoulder, steadying her as he gave her a moment to focus on her breathing. Finally, when Brigitte seemed to have settled, he spoke. "Then perhaps it is time for you to ask her yourself."

Brigitte took a deep breath. "I… I think you're right." She tightened her grip on her flower as she felt a renewed determination. "I'm going to ask her!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really proud of how this one turned out! As always, let me know what you think in the comments. I'm excited to hear what you have to say!


	18. Chapter 18

After her talk with Baptiste, Brigitte had eaten a rather unsatisfactory dinner and spent some time hanging out with the rest of the team and playing games, before finally heading to her room and lying down in her bed, which was where she had been for the past few hours now. Her body wasn't as sore as it had been that morning, but it still ached uncomfortably. Her mind was abuzz with thoughts of the prior few days, and of course, thoughts of Hana, who she was missing deeply. After being spoiled with two back-to-back nights sleeping in the arms of her best friend and crush, anything less felt painfully lonely. She didn't even have Sir Fluff with her to keep her company. It didn't help matters that she no longer had the exhaustion of a hard-fought mission to aid her in falling asleep. And it seemed that every time she did come close to falling asleep, she was jolted awake by thunder. 

Put together, these problems plagued her throughout the entire night, as she spent much of it tossing and turning in her bed, frustratingly wide awake. What precious little time she did spend sleeping was poisoned by horrible nightmares. After a very long, sleepless night, she noticed that her room was becoming brighter, and her already low heart sank even further as she realized that it was morning. Her eyes were dry and her eyelids felt impossibly heavy, but as she curled up around her pillow the aching in her heart and the buzzing in her mind kept her awake once more. She wished Hana was there, holding her, telling her it would be alright, but she was all alone. A pang of guilt struck her as she realized that Hana might have been in the same position back in Gibraltar--likely even worse, since she had no way of knowing if Brigitte and the others were alright. And here she was, struggling to manage even a fraction of what Hana might be facing. She felt pathetic. She curled up tighter, focusing on her breathing and struggling to fight back against the swarm of dark thoughts that assaulted her mind.

* * *

Brigitte spent most of the day in her room, slowly drifting into and violently tossed out of sleep. By late afternoon, she'd managed to acquire what technically added up to a reasonable amount of sleep, but as she finally climbed out of bed, she felt utterly drained. Physically, her body was mostly rested, but mentally, Brigitte felt hollow. After taking a frustratingly long time to get her thoughts in order, she finally shuffled out into the main living area. The long time away from home, rough living conditions, and constant noise of the storm seemed to have taken their toll on the others as well, and the mood was generally rather gloomy throughout the evening and into the night. As Brigitte returned to her room, her mind unfathomably exhausted, her one solace was that the storm was supposed to let up the following day. With any luck, she'd be seeing Hana again soon.

* * *

The following morning brought with it the first good news in what felt to Brigitte like ages: the rain outside had lessened noticeably. Her dreams had only marginally improved from the prior night, but she had made it through the entire night without waking up, thanks in part to her extreme mental fatigue from the past few days, and the fact that the thunder had finally ceased as well. She got dressed and took the time to do up her hair before leaving her room for the day. 

The others seemed to be in much better spirits as well. Brigitte sat with them as they played games, chatting and cracking jokes as the rain slowly died down. By 5pm, it had faded into nothing more than a light mist, and Lena brought Winston and Brigitte outside.

"Back in the day, your father was the one who did field repairs on the Orca," Lena explained to Brigitte as she led her and Winston to the shuttle. "It's only fitting that you'd be the one to pick up that torch."

"Well I can probably fix just about anything wrong with it mechanically," Brigitte said, rubbing the back of her neck, "but I don't have a lot of experience with complex electronics. I-I mean, I'm _good_ , but I need some more practice before I'll be as good as Pappa…"

Tracer smiled cheerfully. "No worries, luv! That's why we've got the big guy with us!" They arrived at the shuttle and Lena opened the doors to allow Brigitte and Winston inside. "We're planning on leaving tomorrow morning to give everyone a chance to rest up," she explained, "so there's no need to rush yourselves."

Brigitte's heart sank. "Wait… we can't leave right away? Can't we rest on the shuttle?"

Lena gently rubbed Brigitte's shoulder. "I know you're anxious to get back to her, big girl, but we've only got one couch on board. It wouldn't be fair to make everyone sleep on the floor."

Brigitte sighed. Lena was right. Besides, she was already going to be getting back several days late; a few more hours couldn't possibly make that big of a difference, right?

Lena left, and Brigitte and Winston fired up the diagnostics tools and got to work. For Brigitte, getting to work on machinery again provided some much needed relief from the past few days. She was able to lose herself in her work, tuning out the outside world until all that she knew was her hands, the tools she held within them, and the project in front of her.

She had no idea what time it was when she finally finished, other than that it was late. Winston had finished his work some time ago, and, after Brigitte had politely declined his offer to stay and keep her company, had headed home. Brigitte locked up the shuttle and returned to the hideout, which was pitch black and dead quiet. She glanced at the clock on one of the walls. 2:00 am. With a yawn, she made her way to her bed and fell asleep.

* * *

"Hey, luv, it's time to get up."

Brigitte awoke with a start in spite of Lena's soft voice as she very gently shook her awake. "Sorry," Lena said guiltily. "Bad dream?"

"Is not your fault," Brigitte said groggily as she sat up. "Wha time issit?"

"6 o'clock," Lena replied. "We're planning on leaving around 7:30. With any luck, it'll be around midnight in Gibraltar when we get back."

"I'm tired," Brigitte yawned.

"How late did you get back," Lena asked.

Brigitte scratched the back of her neck in thought. "I think it was, like… 2am? ...Or something."

Lena gave her a pat on the shoulder as she stood up to leave. "I'll let the others know you'll be needing the couch for a nap. In the meantime, don't dawdle. The sooner we can take off, the sooner we can get back to Hana."

With Lena out of the room, Brigitte did up her hair and tucked the flower into it before heading out to get ready.

* * *

The area around the shuttle was abuzz as the Overwatch team made preparations for takeoff. Several people in the surrounding buildings had opened their windows to watch, and as Brigitte picked up the last piece of her armor to carry it aboard, she heard a set of small footsteps running towards her.

"Lady Knight! Lady Knight!" Brigitte turned to see the young boy from earlier running up to her, his face suddenly lighting up as he noticed the flower in her hair. "You still have the flower I gave you!"

Brigitte smiled. "Of course I do, Daniel! And someday, when you're a big, strong knight, I'm going to tell _everyone_ that you're the one who gave it to me!"

Daniel beamed. "I'll make you proud, Lady Knight! Goodbye!" And with a bow, he ran off once more.

Brigitte heard a chuckle from behind her and turned to see Baptiste grinning broadly. "I thought you were going to give that to a special someone," he commented.

Brigitte took the flower out of her hair and held it in her hands. "If she likes me enough to accept it," she said, "then it won't be going far."

* * *

The flight back to Gibraltar passed quickly enough, aided by the fact that Brigitte spent several hours of it asleep. The team was in good spirits when she woke up, and she took the opportunity to talk to Lena and Winston about scheduling her trip to Busan with Hana--after all, they'd have less than a day in Gibraltar before they'd need to leave in order to make it to Busan in time for the movie. Everyone was excited to finally be heading home, and Brigitte was too, but there was a pit of anxiety in her stomach that she couldn't seem to shake. Some of it may have been because she'd promised Baptiste she'd ask Hana about her feelings, which was terrifying, and even though he'd never know, she knew she couldn't let herself back out. But part of it was just a general "bad feeling" that she couldn't identify. She had no idea why it was there or what it meant, but it grew and grew the closer she got to Gibraltar. By the time the shuttle touched down on the landing pad and she turned on her phone for the first time in days, it had blossomed into a full-blown sense of dread.

She felt her phone buzz and looked down to see two missed texts from Hana. The first one warmed her heart a little: 

[I know you can't reply to this, but I just wanted to let you know I'm thinking of you, and I hope you're safe]

But as she read the second one, her heart instantly shattered into a thousand tiny pieces:

[Please, please come home. I'm so scared and alone. I'm sorry. I can't take it anymore. It's killing me. Please don't be dead. Please, god, please.]

"No…" Brigitte gasped softly, feeling her throat tighten and her eyes start to burn. "Hana…" She turned to face the others. "I have to go. _Now_."

"Brigitte?" Angela called after her. "Is everything alright?" But Brigitte had already sprinted off into the base.

* * *

Brigitte arrived at Hana's room and frantically punched in the code to the door. There was a hiss, and the doors slid open to reveal… nothing. Hana wasn't there. Panicking, Brigitte spun around and ran across the hallway to her door, fumbling with the code as she rushed to get it open. With a hiss, the doors slid open, and what Brigitte saw broke her poor heart all over again.

Hana was in the bed, thrashing and crying out in distress. Her sheets had become a tangled mess around her, restricting her movement. Brigitte could only imagine what was going on in the poor girl's head, and she didn't even seem able to wake up from it. "Hana!" she cried, rushing over to the bed and frantically untangling the sheets. "Oh god!"

Hana awoke with a gasp and a scream and flurry of frightened fists. Several punches struck Brigitte painfully before recognition finally dawned in Hana's eyes, and she threw herself against the larger woman, breaking out into a fit of utterly uncontrollable sobbing and coughing.

"It's okay, Kanin," Brigitte said, struggling to hold back tears as she held Hana as securely as she possibly could. "It's okay. I'm here. It's--" She choked on her words as tears began to run down her own face. " _Fuck_ , Hana, I'm so sorry! This is my fault! It's all my fault, I'm so, so sorry!" She buried her face in the crook of Hana's neck as she broke down and began sobbing openly as well, utterly overcome with guilt. "I'm sorry…" she gasped, barely able to speak. "I'm so sorry…" 

"I th-thought you were dead!" Hana wailed, causing Brigitte's poor, tortured heart to break yet again.

"I know, Hana, I know," she wept in response. " _Gud…_ I'm so fucking sorry, Hana. I'm s-so fucking sorry…" She hated herself for breaking down like this when Hana needed her the most. She hated that she couldn't be strong.

"Wh-where _were_ you?!" Hana sobbed.

"Th-there was a s-storm," Brigitte tried her best to reply as she gently stroked Hana's hair. "We c-we couldn't take off un-until it passed! Hana I-I'm so fucking sorry!"

"Please don't leave me alone ever again. I need you!"

"I promise. I never want to do that to you again. I never want to leave you. Ever."

Brigitte didn't know how long she and Hana sat there, sobbing and gently rocking back and forth as they clung to each other like their lives depended on it, but at some point she felt Hana gently pull away and looked up to see her wiping her eyes with her sleeves. "Did anyone get hurt?" The Korean asked the still-sobbing Swede in a surprisingly steady voice.

"N-no," Brigitte choked, feeling a massive pang of guilt strike her as she lied, and desperately wishing that Hana would hold her again. "We w- we were f-fine."

"Are you sure?" Hana asked softly, and Brigitte felt her heart being torn in two. It felt wrong-- _so_ wrong to lie to Hana, but… it had to be the right thing. There was no way she could handle knowing Brigitte got hurt… was there?   
"Y-yeah," Brigitte sobbed, suddenly feeling like she'd made an enormous mistake. She squeezed her eyes shut as her sobbing got even worse, and she felt Hana's small arms firmly wrap around her and pull her close.

"Well, either way, I'm just glad you all made it home," Hana said, gently rocking Brigitte back and forth as she began to stroke her hair. 

"H-how did you c-calm down so q-quickly?" Brigitte asked, listening to Hana's steady heartbeat as the smaller girl gently held her head to her chest.

Hana shrugged. "You needed me to," she replied. "And it wasn't that quick. I don't know exactly how long it's been since you woke me up, but it has to be at least 45 minutes, easy."

"I-I'm such a fucking i-idiot for take- for taking this long to g-get over it," Brigitte choked.

"No, you aren't," Hana scolded softly. "Let it out. I've got you."

Brigitte shook her head. "I n-need to be stronger th-than this," she sobbed. "You've g-got y- got your own prob-p-problems."

"And you have yours, too," Hana replied. "You've helped me so much with mine, it's only fair that I help you with yours."

Brigitte shook her head again. "I-I'm not gonna ma- make you l-listen to m- to my c-crap."

"Brig, you're not _making_ me do anything," Hana protested. "I _want_ to help you! I--" she cut herself off. It would be wrong to admit her feelings right now, when Brigitte was so vulnerable; she might feel cornered. "I want to help you…" she repeated instead.

"J-just… just h-hold me…" Brigitte whimpered.

Hana sighed and tightened her embrace around her poor friend as she continued to rock her back and forth. It was obvious that Brigitte had more on her mind than just getting home late. Much, _much_ more. But Hana knew she couldn't make her talk about it if she didn't want to. Eventually, Brigitte's sobbing calmed and she gently pulled away enough to look at Hana.

Hana smiled and gently cupped Brigitte's left cheek, wiping away her tears with her thumb. Brigitte sniffed and hastily wiped her right cheek on her sleeve before looking back up. "Thank you, Hana," she said softly. "I'm… I'm sorry I couldn't be strong for you tonight…"

"It's okay," Hana replied gently. "I'm just glad you're back. Come, let's go get ourselves some water and snuggle up for the night. I… I definitely missed having you here."

Brigitte nodded. "I missed you too, Hana."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of ran out of ideas for the first half of the chapter, so I'm sorry if it feels a bit rushed! But, Hana and Brigitte are reunited! As always, I look forward to hearing what you thought about the chapter in the comments ^-^


	19. Chapter 19

Brigitte awoke with a start in the middle of the night, her heart pounding and her clothes damp with a cold sweat. Her dreams weren't quite as bad as they were in Havana, but they still left her rattled. She heard a soft whimpering next to her and looked over to see Hana, curled up and shaking in her sleep. _She doesn't seem to be having it any better…_ Brigitte thought to herself. _Dammit, Brig, this is_ your _fault. Look what you've done to her._ She squeezed her eyes shut against the sudden onrush of tears, and tried to force back her self-abusing thoughts. It wasn't her fault; it couldn't be. They were late because of the storm, that was the only reason. Even if she hadn't gotten hurt, they wouldn't have gotten back any sooner because they still needed to fix the shuttle. She _knew_ this, of course, but that didn't seem to matter. Her inner demons may have been wrong, but they were strong, and loud. _It's YOUR fault, Brigitte! She's having nightmares because of YOU!_

Brigitte wrapped her arms around Hana and pulled her close, sobbing softly into the crook of her neck. After a few moments, Hana stirred slightly, and Brigitte felt the smaller woman's arms wrap around her, holding her tightly against her body.

"What's wrong, Brigitte?" Hana asked, her voice wavering as she began to gently stroke Brigitte's hair. "Did you have a nightmare?"

Brigitte gave a small nod.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Brigitte shook her head. 

Hana let out a shaky sigh, and Brigitte suddenly felt something wet drop onto the back of her neck. "Why do you do this to me, Brig…" Hana said softly, almost to herself, and Brigitte could tell from her voice that she was crying now, too. "Do you know how much it h-hurts, seeing you like this?"

Brigitte opened her mouth to speak, but all she could manage were choking, ragged gasps.

"You know that if you keep bottling up your feelings like this, they're just going to keep getting worse," Hana said, managing to steady her voice, though tears continued to roll down her cheeks. Then, a pit formed in her stomach. "Is it because you don't trust me?" She asked softly, fearing the answer.

The suggestion that she didn't trust her best friend cut deep into Brigitte's already tortured heart, and she shook her head violently, her sobbing worsening. _Of course I trust you!_ She wanted to cry out, but she couldn't form words past her tears.

"Easy, easy," Hana cooed, feeling a pang of guilt at how hurt Brigitte was by the suggestion. She began gently rocking her poor friend back and forth, tightening her embrace. "I'm sorry for pushing you so hard," she murmured. "And I'm sorry I doubted you. I should have known better than to think that." She continued to rock Brigitte gently, all the while gently stroking her hair, a gesture that Brigitte seemed to be finding some comfort in. After a while, another thought crossed her mind. "Do you actually know why you can't tell me?" She asked, as tenderly as she possibly could.

After a moment, Brigitte shook her head.

"But you think at least part of it is that you're scared it would be too much for me," Hana empathized.

Brigitte nodded.

"Well, either way, just know that I'm never going to abandon you," Hana murmured softly. "As long as you need me and longer, I'll be here for you. You're an incredible, amazing person, and you deserve the world."

Brigitte finally settled down enough to speak. "Th-thank y-you, Ha-Hana… F-for everyth-thing."

Hana smiled softly and gave Brigitte the tightest, most secure squeeze she could manage. "Always, Brigitte."

* * *

Brigitte's dreams were still troubled for the rest of the night, but at least she woke up peacefully. Hana was behind her, one arm wrapped securely around her stomach and one leg wrapped around her waist. The smaller woman mumbled something into the back of Brigitte's shirt.

"What did you say, Bunny?" Brigitte asked, rolling over to face her.

"I said, 'good morning,'" Hana replied with a soft smile. 

"Good morning to you, too, Bunny," Brigitte said. "How long have you been up?"

Hana shrugged. "Little bit. Maybe an hour, hour and a half, give or take."

"Were you just laying here the whole time?" Brigitte asked, surprised.

Hana looked down at the bedsheets for a moment. "I… I didn't want you to have to wake up alone," she admitted quietly.

"Hana..." Brigitte gasped softly. "I... Thank you. _So_ much. You're… you're too good to me, _honestly_."

Hana shook her head. "Not possible, Brigitte." She hesitated. "I'm… I'm sorry for pushing you so hard last night. I know I said that before, too, but I mean it. I'm sorry."

"It's okay. You're right that I'm going to have to tell someone at some point, and… If I _did_ tell someone I'd want it to be you. But I just..." Brigitte trailed off, unsure of what she actually wanted to say.

"Well, either way," Hana murmured, giving Brigitte a firm squeeze, "I'm just glad I could help, even if it was just a little. And I'm really, _really_ glad you're back."

"Me too, Hana." 

Hana smiled. After a moment, she gently let go of Brigitte and swung her legs off the bed, standing up on the floor with a small grunt.

"You good?" Brigitte asked.

Hana looked over to her and gave her an affectionate smile. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just needed to stretch! I'll be right back down." She laced her fingers together and reached upwards, arching her back and stretching out her entire body as she closed her eyes in a yawn. Her shirt rode up her stomach, revealing several inches of pale, soft skin as the warm light of the room's simulated sunrise spilled across her nose and cheeks, filtering through her hair and framing her entire silhouette in a soft, golden glow.

For Brigitte, time almost seemed to slow. This was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She'd felt this feeling before when she looked at Hana, but this… this was special, even for her. Something about this moment just felt perfect, and as frightening as it was, she knew she couldn't miss her chance.

"Hey, Hana?" Brigitte asked, sitting up and feeling her heart racing as she prepared herself for what she was about to ask. 

"Mm?" Hana hummed, opening her eyes and looking over at Brigitte.

"I-is… is there anyone you…" Brigitte felt like her heart was about to pop right out of her chest. "Is there anyone you have a crush on?"

Hana froze, her cheeks turning bright pink. "Wh-why do you ask??" She stammered.

Brigitte felt her own face getting hot. "Well, I… I mean… I don't… I…" She felt herself freezing up. She couldn't do it. She was too scared.

But Hana had finally reached a tipping point. Her missed chance as the shuttle took off. Her promise to her friends. The awful, _horrible_ way she'd felt when she thought something bad might have happened to her. For Hana, there was no more turning back. She steeled herself for what was suddenly the most terrifying moment of her life. "W-well," she said, slowly sitting down next to Brigitte on the bed. "There _is_ this one girl I met a little while ago. She's smart, and pretty, and funny, and sweet, and just… just being around her makes it hard to breathe. Every time I'm near her, it… it feels like my heart's about to explode. She takes care of me when I need help, and she never makes me feel bad for it. She has big, strong muscles, beautiful red hair, and the cutest freckles I've ever seen. She was away for a bit on a mission, and while she was away I talked to some of my friends. They made me promise them that, the next time I saw her, I'd ask her out. Well…" She looked up at Brigitte, whose entire face was now flushed beet red as she stared at Hana with her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open in shock, and Hana took her leap of faith. "She and I are supposed to be going to the movies tomorrow, and I was wondering if… maybe… she'd like to make it a date?"

Brigitte's mouth silently opened and closed several times as her poor brain completely short-circuited, and for a moment, Hana's heart sank like a stone. Then, all at once, Brigitte threw herself at her, wrapping her arms around her and nearly knocking her over, nodding vigorously against Hana's chest.

"So it's a yes?" Hana asked, both exhilarated and relieved. Brigitte nodded again as she struggled to choke back a wave of tears. "Hey, easy, big girl," Hana said softly, rubbing Brigitte's back comfortingly. "It's okay. Let it out. I've got you."

"I'm such a fucking idiot," Brigitte said as she began to sob.

"You stop that," Hana said with a smile, struggling to keep her voice steady as her own emotions began to spill over. "You're gonna talk about my girlfriend like that?"

"Your girlfriend is c-crying because you asked her out," Brigitte replied, feeling a rush of warmth overwhelm her at Hana's use of the word.

"So?" Hana countered. "I am too!"

Brigitte looked up, and sure enough tears were beginning to roll down Hana's cheeks. She shook her head. "How… how long did you feel this way?" She asked.

"Honestly," Hana said, briefly wiping her face with her sleeve, "ever since the day we met. It took me a while to figure it all out though… the others realized it before I did. ...What about you?"

"I've had a crush on you ever since I first started watching your streams," Brigitte admitted. "It's weird, though…. I mean, it doesn't feel like my celebrity crush just asked me out. It just… feels like my best friend did."

Hana's bottom lip quivered, and suddenly she buried her face in the crook of Brigitte's neck as her shoulders began to shake from sobbing.

"Hey, easy, Kanin," Brigitte said, panicking slightly. "Did I say something wrong?"

Hana shook her head vigorously. "A-all my life, p-people only ever wanted me b-because I was f-famous!" She sobbed. "E-everyone I da-dated said so wh-when we broke- broke up! No- Nobody ever l-liked the real me th-that way. B- by the ti- by the time I m-met you…" she shook her head violently. "I h-honestly thought no-nobody ever w-would!!"

Brigitte's heart broke. "That's awful!" She cried. "Why wouldn't anyone like you??"

"I don- don't _know_ !" Hana wailed. "If I did, I wo-wouldn't have h- _had_ that prob-problem!"

"Hana," Brigitte murmured softly, rocking her girlfriend back and forth. "You're such an amazing, wonderful, incredible person. You're smart, you're kind, you're thoughtful, you're funny… I don't know what it is other people didn't like about you, but I'm glad you never changed it. You're perfect as you are."

"Being famous s-sucks," Hana whimpered. "You wind up d-doubting everyone who gets c-close to you. Wondering w-why they're really here…"

"That's not why I want to be with you, Hana," Brigitte exclaimed. "I swear on my life, I don't care whether you're famous or not!"

"Y-you're the o-only one I've ever been s-sure about," Hana sniffed softly, pulling back to wipe her eyes. "I a-already knew y-you weren't th-that shallow. But hearing you sa-say that…. That I- I just f-felt like y-your be-best friend…" She shook her head and began sobbing again. "I-it's all I e-ever wanted to h-hear someone say!!"

"Nobody you liked ever said that to you?" Brigitte asked softly, completely heartbroken.

Hana shook her head again. "And I h-honestly th-thought nobody e-ever would! But you ch-changed all that! I can't th-thank you enough."

Brigitte held Hana tighter as the smaller woman pressed her face back into the crook of her neck. "Hana… no matter what you may feel, no matter what anybody may say, you are _not_ unlovable. You hear me? You are beautiful, inside and out, and anybody who doesn't see that just isn't good enough for you."

Hana nodded against Brigitte's shoulder. "Y-you've shown me th-that every day s-since we met," she said softly. "I… I'm j-just so ha-happy." She pulled away just enough to wipe her face on her sleeve, before managing to look up into Brigitte's eyes. "It f-feels so good to cry tears of j-joy for once. Thank you."

Brigitte affectionately cupped Hana's cheek. "I'm here for you, my little bunny. Always."

* * *

After getting ready for the morning, they headed down to the kitchen for breakfast. As they walked, Brigitte felt Hana's hand softly _whap_ against hers, and she looked over to see the Korean blushing rather brightly. Brigitte smiled and gently took her hand, lacing their fingers together. Hana quickly looked away to hide her blush, but she nevertheless clutched Brigitte's hand tightly.

Brigitte chuckled. "You're cute when you're blushing," she teased.

"Sh-shut it…" Hana muttered sheepishly.

They entered the hangar and saw Angela approaching them. Much to Brigitte's disappointment, Hana let out a small squeak and immediately dropped her hand.

Angela already seemed to have noticed, though. "Holding hands, I see?" She observed with a wry smile.

"Wh-what are you doing on this side of the hangar?" Brigitte stammered, feeling her cheeks grow hot as well.

"Coming to check on you two, actually," Angela replied. "You had us quite worried last night, but it would seem that whatever issue arose has been… resolved." She winked at the two of them. "Congratulations, by the way."

Brigitte felt Hana's hand sheepishly reach out to hold hers again, and she gave it an affectionate squeeze. "Tack," she said to Angela with a smile. 

"Th-thank you…" Hana said quietly.

"Well, I'm sure Lena and Lúcio will be especially eager to find out who asked who," Angela said with an impish smile. "After all, they have money riding on the answer."

"W-wait, _what_??" Hana exclaimed indignantly.

Angela only chuckled to herself and headed back to the kitchen.

"Those rats!!" Hana turned to Brigitte, her blush all but gone. "We're fucking with them, right?" She demanded.

Brigitte grinned mischievously. "Oh, yeah. We're _totally_ fucking with them."

* * *

Brigitte and Hana arrived at the kitchen hand in hand, after discussing their plan on the way. As they walked in, they were greeted with surprised looks from everyone on the team, except for Angela.

"Congratulations," she said again, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Y-yeah, congrats, luvs!!" Lena stammered, still recovering from her shock.

"Never thought I'd see the day," Reinhardt chuckled. 

"Oh, shut it," Brigitte replied.

"So, uh… who asked who?" Lúcio asked in a poor attempt at feigning genuine curiosity.

Brigitte and Hana both pointed at each other simultaneously. "She did," they said in unison. The looks on Lena and Lúcio's faces was absolutely priceless.

"W-well, come on now," Lena said, her acting somehow even worse than Lúcio's. "Someone had to have been first, right…?"

Hana pointed to Brigitte again. "She brought it up."

"Yeah," Brigitte replied, "but _you_ were the one who asked me out!" The triumphant look that had just spread across Lena's face vanished, and Lúcio barely hid a smirk.

"Hey, hey," Hana argued, "I only asked you out because _you_ brought it up!" Now it was Lúcio's turn to look deflated.

"So, you still asked me out first!" Brigitte retorted.

"I mean, you asked me if I had a crush on someone," Hana insisted. " _Everyone_ knows that's _basically_ asking me out, just with different words, right?"

"True, very true," Brigitte admitted. "I don't really care though. I'm just glad we're together now! I guess, if Lena and Lúcio really want to know, they can discuss the technicalities amongst themselves!" She said the last comment as if she was talking to Hana, but she made sure to say it loud enough that Lena and Lúcio might wonder if she knew more than she was letting on. "Anyways," she continued, grabbing four donuts from the box on the counter, "Hana and I are going to enjoy our breakfast together before we need to get ready for that flight to Busan! Vi ses!" She gave a wave as she and Hana left the kitchen, and spared one last glance over her shoulder. The priceless mix of confusion and betrayal on both Lena and Lúcio's faces made her entire day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well THAT was a long time coming! This chapter was a pretty 50/50 mix of stuff I'd planned *long* in advance, and stuff that just came to me on the spot. This is obviously a super important moment for Hana and Brigitte, and I really hope I was able to do it justice!


	20. Chapter 20

"You're not going to eat your second donut?" Brigitte sat with Hana at the end of the Gibraltar dock, watching the ships go by in the strait. Between them, a single donut sat on a napkin on the dock. 

Hana shook her head. "You can have it."

"Nu-uh," Brigitte replied. "I'm not gonna eat three when you've only had one."

"Well," Hana said hesitantly, her cheeks turning ever so slightly pink. "Maybe we could split it?"

"Y-yeah, sure!" Brigitte broke the donut in half and handed one of the pieces to Hana with a smile. Hana leaned over, placing her free hand on Brigitte's thigh for balance and causing the Swede to let out a slightly flustered squeak as she held up her half of the donut and lightly pressed it to Brigitte's lips. After taking a split second to reboot, Brigitte opened her mouth and allowed Hana to feed her the donut. "Th-thanks," she said, blushing.

Hana sat back down and looked up at Brigitte with a smile. "Your turn," she said. Brigitte's blush deepened as she leaned over, hesitantly placing her hand on Hana's thigh to support herself as she brought the rest of the donut to Hana's lips. Hana obediently accepted it. "Thanks, babe," she said once she'd swallowed.

The word caused Brigitte's brain to short-circuit. "Y-you're welcome… h-hun…?"she stammered awkwardly, feeling her face heat up from her cheeks to the tips of her ears.

Hana giggled and hugged Brigitte's arm. "Neo gwiyeobda," she hummed.

"Wh-what does that mean?" Brigitte asked, still flustered.

Hana smirked. "It's a secret."

"N-no fair!" Brigitte protested.

"It absolutely is fair," Hana countered, "because you could say anything you wanted to me in Swedish and I'd have no idea what you said."

Brigitte could only groan in response.

They sat there cuddled together in silence for a minute or two before Hana suddenly spoke again.

"Hey, Brig?" She said, letting go of Brigitte's arm and sitting up straight. Something about her tone made Brigitte's heart sink.

"What is it, Kanin?" Brigitte asked softly.

"I… I need to tell you something."

"Go ahead," Brigitte urged, trying not to show her nervousness.

"I…" Hana took in a deep breath and let it out again. "I just want you to be prepared for what you're getting yourself into by dating me." She looked down and kicked her feet nervously. "I'm broken in a lot of ways," she explained quietly. "Like, a  _ lot _ . There's the PTSD, the anxiety…" She squeezed her eyes shut and it seemed like she was already fighting back tears. After a moment she opened her eyes and continued. "I've dated people before. A few times. It… it never ended well for me. I made lousy calls, fell in love with some really shallow people, but…" She sighed. "I have no idea what I'm doing. I've had my heart broken too many times to count, and each time it's healed a little wrong. I have scars--bad ones, and I won't be able to protect you from them forever. There…" She choked on her words, and Brigitte could see tears starting to run down her cheeks. "There will be times when I'll get scared, and I'll say and do things that I don't really mean. Things that will hurt like hell to hear. When that happens… p-please don't take it personally." She looked up at Brigitte and shook her head, her voice trembling. "It's n-not that I don't t-trust you. It's th-that I  _ can't _ . N-not after everything I've b-been through. Not after e-everyone who's hurt me…" She took a deep breath to steady herself as she looked back down at the water. "I-if that sounds like too m-much, I understand," she said softly. "I w-wish I could make it easier f-for you, but…" She shook her head again. "I have s-so much healing I need to do...." She looked back up at Brigitte, her voice steadying as she forced herself to be strong. "If you want to back out now, I won't blame you."

" _ Fuck  _ that!" Brigitte replied with a surprising amount of force. "Hana, ever since the day I met you, you have been  _ nothing  _ but kind and caring to me. Just being around you is the most amazing feeling I could ever feel, and I won't trade it for the world. When you're happy, it makes  _ me  _ happy, and when you're sad, or scared… I want to help. If you need some time to trust me, because of everyone who's hurt you, I understand… and I don't blame you. But I will prove to you that I am different from them, I  _ promise  _ you that."

Hana's shoulders began to shake. "Thank you," she said, her voice cracking as she finally lost her battle with her tears.

"Come here, Kanin," Brigitte murmured, gathering Hana in her arms and pulling her close. "It's been an overwhelming few days, hasn't it?"

"I f-feel like I have emotional whip- whiplash going from last n-night to th-this morning," Hana sniffed. "I've gone f-from feeling worse than I e-ever thought possible, to feeling bet- better than I ever h-have in my life." She pressed her face against Brigitte's shoulder. "I can't th-thank you enough!"

"You thank me plenty just by being here," Brigitte replied, tucking her head and gently nuzzling Hana's hair.

"You're too g-good to me," Hana whimpered. "I don't deserve it..."

"Hey," Brigitte scolded softly. "Don't you talk about my girlfriend like that."

"Sh-shut it…" Hana sniffed, pulling away from Brigitte's shoulder to wipe her eyes.

Brigitte smiled and gently stroked Hana's hair. "We should start packing our things for the flight," she said. "Let me know when you're ready to head back to our rooms. I... have something I want to give you."

* * *

As they left the elevator room and started along the main road that ran through the base, they heard the distinctive sound of Lena's chronal accelerator and looked over to see her come to a stop right in front of them. "Hey," she said, standing slightly awkwardly. "I, uh, just wanted to let you know that we contacted MEKA and they said they'd have your room ready for you. We'll be landing the shuttle directly in the launch bay when we get there."

Brigitte smiled. "Great! Thanks, Lena!"

Lena gave them an awkward smile and then took off towards her room.

Hana turned to Brigitte, slightly concerned. "What do you think's up with her?" She asked.

Brigitte shrugged. "She probably just feels a little guilty about betting on us. I wouldn't be too worried, but we can always ask her on the flight."   
They arrived at the hallway between their rooms, and stopped in front of Hana's door.

"Wait here," Brigitte said. "I… I left the thing in the shuttle last night, so I might be a bit." Hana nodded and Brigitte gave her a quick hug before leaving.

Hana sighed and started packing for the Busan trip. She didn't need to pack too much since they'd be staying in her room, but she took time to think about what Brigitte would need to pack and made mental notes to help her once she returned with whatever she wanted to give her. After a few minutes, she heard her door hiss open and looked up to see Brigitte standing in the doorway, her hands held behind her back, and a bright blush on her cheeks.

"Well?" Hana pressed. "Don't keep me waiting!"

Brigitte stepped into Hana's room, the blush spreading from her cheeks to her ears. "I… I know you're probably not the type of girl for this thing," she admitted sheepishly, "but, I wanted you to have this." From behind her back she pulled a beautiful flower and held it out towards Hana.

The Korean let out an adorable squeak as her own cheeks reddened, and she gingerly took the flower from Brigitte's hands, staring at it in awe. "I-it's… it's beautiful," she gasped. "Where did you get it?"

"There was this kid in Havana who gave it to me," Brigitte explained, nervously rubbing the back of her neck as she resisted the urge to tug at her collar. "He ran up to me after we took out a bunch of soldiers and gave it to me."

"And you don't want to keep it?" Hana asked, still somewhat in shock.

Brigitte's blush somehow got even more intense. "W-well, I… I mean I figured… I thought that, well… if you liked it-- me, if you liked  _ me  _ enough to take  _ it,  _ you would… If we wound up together..."

"If we wound up together, it would be like you never gave it away..." Hana finished softly.

"Yeah," Brigitte confirmed quietly.

"Brigitte…" Hana murmured, still recovering from her shock. "I…" She suddenly threw herself at the larger woman and wrapped her arms around her. " _ Thank you _ ," she said. "I love it." She felt the Swede relax in her arms. "If it's okay with you," she continued, pulling away enough to look up at Brigitte's face, "I'd like to press it. So it'll last longer."

"O-of course!" Brigitte replied. "I… I never really learned how to do those things as a kid, though," she admitted.

Hana smiled brightly. "Then I'll have to show you! Follow me!" She started to walk, then paused. "While I still can," she explained, tucking the flower into her hair and beaming proudly at Brigitte.

"Du är söt," Brigitte chuckled.

"What does that mean?" Hana asked.

Brigitte smirked. "It's a secret."

* * *

Hana led Brigitte to the kitchen, practically dragging her by the hand in her excitement. After Brigitte nearly fell face-first down the stairs to the kitchen, Hana finally let her go. "We're here!" She exclaimed, slightly out of breath.

"Why do we need to be in the kitchen?" Brigitte gasped. "And why the big rush?"

"We gotta take off soon," Hana replied. "And  _ you  _ still need to pack! As for why we need to be in the kitchen…" She started searching through the various cabinets and cupboards. "Where does Angela keep the parchment paper?"

"Bottom cabinet to the right of the sink," Brigitte replied, a dumb grin on her face as she watched her girlfriend excitedly shuffle through the cabinets. "What's the parchment paper for?"

"The point of pressing flowers is to remove moisture," Hana explained, "since moisture is what causes them to rot. So we need to press it between two things that are good at absorbing moisture-- a-ha!" She triumphantly removed the parchment paper from the cabinet and set two sheets on the counter. "We--" She looked up and noticed Brigitte's eyes on her. "Wait, why are you staring at me?"

"Oh!" Brigitte exclaimed, blushing. "I-it's just weird to see you with a flower in your hair!"

Hana smiled, a very faint blush touching her cheeks as well. "Hey," she said, "I can be pretty when I want to be!"

Brigitte giggled. "You're always pretty, Kanin. I still didn't think it'd be your style!"

Hana blushed a little bit more. She liked it when Brigitte felt bold enough to compliment her. She wished it happened more often. "W-well, either way," she said, trying to ignore the heat in her cheeks as she removed the flower and set it on the table, "it can't stay there any longer." She set the flower down on one of the pieces of parchment paper and began carefully arranging the petals so that they lay flat on the sheet. "This is a good flower," she commented. "It'll press nicely!" 

Brigitte watched as Hana finished arranging the flower and placed the other sheet of parchment paper on top of it. As much as she enjoyed learning about the process, she found even more joy from simply watching Hana moving and talking so excitedly and happily. The poor girl had been through far too much lately, and had shed far too many tears, and it warmed Brigitte's heart to see her finally smiling and laughing and enjoying life once more.

"Now we take this and-- Brigitte, would you mind opening the microwave for me?" Hana was carefully holding the flower-and-paper sandwich with both hands to keep it flat.

"S-sure!" Brigitte exclaimed, opening the microwave. "But… why are we putting it in the microwave? From what little I heard about this from my friends in school, it sounded like it usually involves books or something. Nobody mentioned a microwave! At least… not that I can remember…"

Hana giggled, setting the paper down on the microwave plate. "It's pretty common to press flowers between the pages of a big, heavy book," she explained. "I've heard some people say it's better for the flower to do it that way, but using a book takes, like, a  _ month _ and I honestly don't think it really makes any difference-- could you pass me a heavy plate, dear?"

Brigitte's face turned bright red. "S-sure! H-here…" She handed Hana a heavy plate from the cabinet. Hana took it and gave Brigitte a bright smile.

"The heat of the microwave combined with the weight of the plate helps force the moisture out of the flower faster," she continued as she placed the plate on top of the flower and closed the door. "Now, we just microwave it in 30 second intervals, checking in between until we see that it's done!" She punched in the time and set the microwave going.

"S-so," Brigitte asked, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck and wishing that this damn blush would go away. "Did you press flowers a lot as a kid?"

Some of the energy drained from Hana's body and her voice was considerably quieter when she spoke. "Actually… one of my exes taught me..." she said, still staring at the microwave. "Ever since she dumped me… I haven't been able to bring myself to do it again. It always reminded me of her…" The microwave dinged and she opened the door with a sigh to check on the flower. "She was one of the bad ones," she said softly. "Well…" she closed the door and set the microwave for another 30 seconds. "I guess they  _ all _ were bad ones…"

Brigitte's blush had certainly vanished, but the feeling that replaced it had her wishing for it back. "Hana, I… I'm sorry," she said softly. "I didn't know…"

Hana looked back at Brigitte and gave her a gentle smile. "It's okay," she said, a reassuring warmth returning to her voice. "I jumped on the opportunity to do this with you so that it might start reminding me of someone else." She reached out and gently took Brigitte's hand in her own. "Someone better."

Brigitte smiled in return and gently tucked a lock of Hana's hair behind her ear. "I'm glad I can help, min lilla kanin."

Hana closed her eyes, relaxing at Brigitte's soft touch. After a moment, the microwave dinged again and she opened the door to check on the flower. "Looks like it's done," she said, setting the plate aside before she took the paper out of the microwave and took off the top layer. She pulled a small book from her pocket and set it on the counter, opening it to a blank page and very, very carefully taking the flower off of the parchment paper and laying it on the page. "Now we just need to glue it to the page, and--"

Lena popped her head into the kitchen. "There you are, luvs!" She gasped. "I've been looking everywhere! We're set to take off in half an hour!"

"Okay!" Hana replied with a smile. "Thanks for the heads up!" She turned to Brigitte, who suddenly looked very worried.

"What's wrong?" Hana asked, concerned.

"I STILL NEED TO PACK!!!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Neo gwiyeobda - "You're cute" (Korean)  
> Du är söt - "You're cute" (Swedish)


End file.
